


Beautifully Twisted

by GiffewandMatkinator



Series: Beautifully Twisted [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s12e17 The British Invasion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 12:36:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 61,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12912066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiffewandMatkinator/pseuds/GiffewandMatkinator
Summary: With the course of one bullet, their lives were inextricably altered. With one decision, nothing would ever be the same again. But will things change for the better? Or will they end up worse than ever?





	1. Chapter 1

Ketch didn't want to do this. But he had his orders. They hadn't been friends for quite some time now, they'd grown apart many years ago. But once, before too much damage had been done by the organisation they both served, they were close. Still, the code demanded he did as he was told. So he stood back and waited for the inevitable.

"Two days ago, according to your own report, you let a prince of hell escape. And the mother of Lucifer's child. And one of my best men was murdered by an American hunter, whom you allowed to live. These hunters are out of control. The brothers of Winchester in particular. Which Lady Bevell has exhaustively documented."

Ketch had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Hess doted on Lady Toni Bevell, believing every word she ever told her. Ignoring of course that Toni, more often than not, was serving her own agenda. She loved to paint everyone else as the villain of her story, he knew that better than most.

"Ma'am if you would just listen-" Mick tried to say.

"To what? More excuses? No, I don't think I will. Hunters are dogs, Mr. Davies. You give them an order and they obey. So tell me. Do they? Do they obey you? No, of course not. So this Eileen Leahy will be found and killed in accordance with the code. As for the Winchesters, like any rebellious hunters they will be investigated. And if found guilty, executed."

Listening to this, Ketch couldn't help but wonder what might happen if he were to disobey. He was the one that was usually sent in to deal with situations like rogue operatives. If he were to become one himself, would there be a member in good standing that would be strong enough to kill him? Unlikely.

"If? If they're found guilty? Aren't hunters always found guilty?"

"Be careful Mr. Davies." Hess warned, as though she hadn't already planned exactly what was to happen next.

"No. My entire life with the Men of Letters I never once broke a rule. And yes, at first I was shocked at how Sam and Dean operate. But what Lady Bevell doesn't mention is the lives they've saved. Monsters destroyed. And outcomes made better not because of the code, but because of Sam and Dean Winchester's sense of what's right."

Ketch wondered to himself; if even Mick, who had always been so loyal to the Men of Letters, was questioning them now- could he be right? Was what they were doing wrong?

"And that is the crux of the matter. The code is not a suggestion, it's an absolute. The code is what separates us from the monsters. It is the order by which we all live."

"No. The code is what makes a young boy kill his best friend. When I was a child, I had nothing. I owed you everything. And I obeyed." Hess nodded to Ketch, it was time. "But I'm a man now Dr. Hess. And I can see the choices. And I choose to do the right thing."

Ketch raised his gun and fired. Hess' lifeless corpse fell to the ground. For the first time since he was a child, Ketch felt like he was his own person again. At Kendricks, they saw his talent for weaponry and they used it for their own purposes. They brainwashed him and tortured him until he did as he was told without question. Now that Hess was dead, that programming was broken and everything went into sensory overload.

"What did you just do?!" Mick asked, still staring at the corpse of the woman who 'raised' them.

"She wanted me to kill you. I chose to kill the old hag instead. I suppose that makes me a rebellious hunter now, and you a dead man walking. They are going to be after both our heads when they find out about this."

Ketch had killed so many people by now he barely even remembered most of them. But with this one kill, his whole life was going to change. He had just declared war on the Men of Letters, turning him from predator to prey. That was a thought that made him deeply uncomfortable.

He knew of course that none of them could possibly kill him when they were one on one. The problem was that they had strength in numbers. He only had one ally, and that was Mick, who he had barely seen fight let alone kill since their days at Kendricks.

"We need to leave this place. Now." Ketch demanded leaving the room as quickly as he was able, and Mick followed closely behind. In the time between the room and the car, Ketch became visibly distressed. He looked as though he was in pain and was shaking. Mick had never seen him like this and it was worrying him. Mick helped Ketch into the passenger side of the Bentley and he drove them out of there. It didn't take long before the silence was deafening.

"I have to know. Why did you do it? Kill her and not me?" Mick demanded.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters."

Ketch sighed. He wasn't sure how to answer him. "You want the truth? Fine. I don't know. I suppose it's because I agree with you, we should be able to make our own choices. But we could never do that as long as she was alive." He wasn't sure if he should keep going. But Mick wanted to know. "We were friends once. I didn't want to kill you. I know so much has happened since then you will likely want nothing to do with me, but I didn't want to be the one to kill you."

Mick sat in silence for a moment, processing what he had just heard. "Ketch, you just saved my life. You are my friend."

They drove for a couple of hours in silence after that, just trying to come to terms with the magnitude of what they'd just done.

Mick pulled the car over outside a petrol station, but the car had almost a full tank.

"We don't need petrol, Mick. We have to keep moving, what are you doing?"

"Give me your phone" Mick demanded, ignoring Ketch's comment. Ketch handed his phone over and Mick quickly erased any information on there, and then did the same with his own before putting them both in the glove compartment. After telling Ketch to leave them there, he went inside the petrol station.

There was only one other customer in the place, and Mick approached the guy. "Excuse me mate, is that your car outside?" He asked, pointing to the Ford Pinto parked next to theirs.

The guy nodded. "Fancy a trade? The Bentley just isn't my kinda car."

The guy looked at him like he was crazy. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. Just an offer." The guy agreed, shook Mick's hand and traded the keys.

Mick went back outside to get Ketch and as he was helping him walk to the Pinto Ketch spoke up. "I'll ask you again, what are you doing?"

"This is our car now" Mick replied, gesturing to the pinto.

"No. Have you lost your mind? Trading the Bentley for this? That was my bloody car Mick!"

"You know we have to do this. If we keep the car, they will track us. It's not like we could've taken it back to London with us anyway. If we survive this you can get a new one. But for now we don't have any other options. So get in."

Ketch knew he was right, and they didn't have a choice, but he still didn't like it. They got in the car and drove for another couple of hours in relative silence, but every now and then Ketch would mutter something about how uncomfortable the drive was compared to the smooth ride of the Bentley.

By the time they arrived, Ketch was completely drained of colour and he felt as if his head was going to explode. He was trying to hide just how bad it was from Mick, but he knew there was something seriously wrong.

Ketch looked out the window and rolled his eyes at Mick's hopeless optimism. "The Bunker? Really? They won't help us, they hate us in case you'd forgotten."

"We are out of options. There's something going on with you. Natural illness doesn't progress this fast, and we are probably being hunted as we speak. There's no time to find a safe house. We need help now."

Mick had to practically drag Ketch to the door and started banging and shouting to let them in. When nobody answered, he assumed there must be nobody inside and let himself in with his key.

Once they reached the bottom of the steps, Ketch collapsed. Mick immediately dropped to the floor to check that he was alright. He was breathing, so that was good. But Mick's relief was short lived as Ketch started seizing on the ground.

Mick panicked and started searching for something, anything, that would help reverse whatever this was. He must have been making a lot of noise because the next thing he knew, Sam and Dean ran into the room with their guns, clearly having just woken up.

"Mick? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." Sam said.

"I'll answer your questions later, but for now just please help me." He looked over to Ketch for a second before carrying on searching. The seizure had stopped but he was still unconscious.

"Sammy, check outside" Dean ordered, and Sam sprinted up the steps and out the door, making sure they weren't followed.

"You," Dean said glaring and pointing at Mick "start talking."

"I think he might be dying. I have to try and save him. He was fine until-" Mick paused unsure of how to explain to them what happened, even though he barely understood it himself. He didn't know why this was happening to Ketch.

"Until what?"

"He killed our boss to save me. They wanted me dead, and he killed her so I could live. I can't let him die now, not like this. I owe him more than that."

Sam came back and shook his head. There was nobody outside. They were safe, for now.

"We should get him to bed." Sam said glancing between his brother, Mick and the still unconscious Ketch.

"We can't keep him here!" Dean practically shouted, earning a signature bitch face from his brother.

"We can't send him away either. In his condition he won't last five minutes out there, particularly not with the Men of Letters wanting him dead."

"He never used to be the man you know." Mick explained, trying to placate Dean. "What he did today shows he's capable of change and becoming himself again. Please don't judge him by his previous actions."

Dean could tell there was no way he'd be allowed to win this. In truth he knew as well as Sam did that however much he hated the guy, he'd never be able to live with himself if he kicked Ketch out now. "Fine, put him in Cass' room. Not like he's ever around anyway."

It took all three of them and a lot of maneuvering to get Ketch to the bed. Sam and Dean left to get some food and a drink for Mick, only Sam had actually offered but Dean felt uncomfortable with Mick's talk about getting Ketch out of his clothes to make him more comfortable. By the time the Winchesters returned, Mick was sat on the desk chair next to Ketch's bed. Ketch had a damp cloth on his forehead to help with the fever that must have developed and Mick was fast asleep in the uncomfortable wooden chair. Sam took the glass of water from his brother and placed it and the sandwich they had made on the desk before heading back to the library. Dean, at a bit of a loss, followed him.

"What are we doing here Sam? Since when did we harbour the Brits?"

"They need our help Dean, besides if what Mick said is true then Ketch might not be the same person anymore. We should at least give him a chance."

"What like you gave a chance to Ruby?" Dean snapped.

"No, like you gave a chance to Benny and Castiel and Crowley. I'm not saying he's definitely going to change. I'm just saying that he deserves the same chances we'd give anyone else and he might just surprise you."

"We'll see, but I'm not holding my breath." Sam just rolled his eyes and went in search of a book that might hold some clues as to what was wrong with Ketch.

Dean sighed and headed to bed whilst Sam continued working until he fell asleep at the table, where he stayed until he was woken by a knock on the door. Sam grabbed his gun from the table and headed to the door. Of all the people that could have been at the door, Toni was the last person he expected.

"Good morning Sam. I'm looking for Mick and Ketch, I know they would have come here."

"What?" Sam was slightly lost for a moment, having just been so rudely awakened. The momentary confusion was enough for Toni to force her way past, just as Mick entered the war room.

"Toni…" Mick wasn't really sure what to say. He was sure he was about to be shot and then this whole ordeal would have been for nothing. Ketch would be suffering for him to survive another few hours at the most. It wouldn't have made a difference.

"Where's Ketch?" Toni asked, looking around almost desperately. "He's got to be really suffering at the moment."

Mick blinked at her in confusion so Sam asked, "How do you know that?"

"I'll explain later but I can help and if you don't let me then he will die and you won't be able to stop it." Sam and Mick shared a glance. They both knew that they had to at least let her try. Neither doubted that what she said was true, Ketch would die if she didn't help.

Sam showed her to the room and left to get some breakfast, leaving Mick to wait outside. They weren't sure how much they could trust Toni so wanted to be safe.

It was almost too much for Toni to bare. Standing in a room with the man she once loved as he was dying would be too much for anyone. It didn't matter that she could save him, it didn't even matter that she'd come in the first place. It was all her fault and she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forgive herself.

It was almost 9 years previously when Toni had been called to Hess' office. She knocked on the door and waited to be allowed entry. "Come in Lady Bevell." She heard from inside the room. "Do you understand why you have been called here?" Toni shook her head. Nobody had explained why she had been called to the office. Her training dictated that when told to jump, she didn't even ask how high. She just did, no questions asked. "You're here because of your relationship with Mr Ketch."

"I see." Toni started wracking her brain, trying to work out if they could have broken any rules or if they could be in some kind of trouble.

"As you know, such relationships are acceptable as long as no children are born without prior written consent from the elders." Toni nodded, still unsure as to how it related to herself and Ketch. "It has come to our attention that you are now with child. As a result, you have a choice to make." Toni kept her face completely blank but inside she was reeling. They'd been so careful, but she was pregnant. She'd broken a rule and although it was unintentional. she would have to be punished. "You must choose between Ketch or your unborn child. We've been looking for someone to undergo a new procedure in order to join our new team of assassins. If you choose to keep the child then Ketch will undergo this procedure and your child will live. If, however you choose Mr Ketch then your pregnancy will be terminated."

Toni could feel Hess' eyes on her. Waiting for whatever decision she may make. "The baby." Was out of her mouth before she'd even really finished weighing up the Pros and Cons of the situation.

Doctor Hess nodded, before calling out. "Come in please, Mr Ketch." Toni spun round and there, in the doorway, was her boyfriend. She could see from the hurt and betrayal in his eyes that he'd heard everything, but was doing his best to keep a complete Poker face in front of their former headmistress.

"You're aware of the decision Lady Bevell has made, do you disagree with this decision?" Just asking the question was cruel and they all knew it. If he had chosen to disagree, they would have both been killed.

"I'm so sorry." Toni heard her own voice cracking as she reached out her hand for his. Her heart broke as he pulled his hand away, she could see the tears beginning to form in his eyes but there was nothing she could do. If she could have gone back on her decision in that moment then she would.

"Lady Bevell, would you please do the honours." She looked over at the woman sat at the desk and saw that she was holding out a syringe. Toni took it from her hand and turned back to her boyfriend… ex-boyfriend now she supposed.

"I'm sorry." She whispered again.

"Just do it." He told her, refusing to look her in the eye.

She hadn't known at the time what the decision was that she'd made, or the cost of that choice. That injection had been the first of many to turn her once caring boyfriend into what she deemed the "psychopath". Whilst she never really stopped loving him, she always loved the man he used to be. She tried and tried, did countless amounts of research but there was nothing she could do to reverse what she had done. Her only hope was that he could break the control from the inside. Now he'd done that, and it was slowly killing him. She could save him, she was sure, but he'd still never quite be who he used to be, and it was all her fault. The thing that made her feel worse though was the fact that if given the choice, she'd make the same decision again. She'd choose Archie every time.

"How's he doing?" Mick asked from the doorway. "What caused this? You never said."

"Yes. I know." Without even looking at him, she knew the expectant look on Mick's face. "I take it you know about the tendency of the Men of Letters to brainwash their hunters." She turned just in time to see him nod. "There are many different types of brainwashing that can be used but one, perhaps the cruellest, doesn't tend to last. At most it lasts for about 20 years depending on the strength of the person. The shortest amount of time I've seen is almost 9 years."

"And how is this relevant to Ketch?"

"Because when it fails, when the recipient of the treatment disobeys a direct order, it kills them. Ketch received that treatment almost 9 years ago."

Mick paused for a moment, trying to process the information he was just given. "So you're saying that Ketch is dying because he didn't kill me and killed Hess instead." The colour seemed to drain from his face in an instant and he looked like he might be sick as he looked at the man unconscious on the bed. "Did he know?"

"That saving you would kill him? Yes, I believe so. As part of the process they're always informed of what will happen if they ever disobey an order. It's the fear of death that keeps them under control, even after the treatment begins to wear off." She didn't even realise she'd moved closer to the bed until she found herself running a hand through Ketch's hair.

"He always was idiotically loyal." Toni jumped at the sound of Mick's voice from the other side of the bed.

"Yes he was, but it was always part of his charm."

"Why would someone choose to do that to another human being?" Toni flinched at the disgust in Mick's tone.

"Because I had no other choice." She knew the confused look Mick would be giving her so she went on to explain. "I was given a choice. I could either save him, or save my son. I didn't know what I was being asked until it was too late."

She flinched as she felt Mick gently place a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright." He reassured her gently. "You'll be able to save him and he'll meet Archie and understand why you made the choice you did."

"You and I both know that if there's one thing Arthur Ketch never wanted, it was to be a father."

"That's true, but when has anyone ever managed to say no to Archie?" Toni let out a weak laugh at that. Mick was right of course. She didn't know anyone who didn't love Archie from the moment they met him. But the thought still terrified her. Not to mention this whole discussion was dependant on her ability to save Ketch at all when in reality he had, at best, a one in three chance of surviving the next 24 hours.

Rather than addressing what Mick had just said, she went to her handbag to pull out a list. "Could you go and get me the ingredients we need?" She asked, passing the piece of paper over to Mick. She went back into her bag and, as a result, didn't see Mick leave as she pulled out everything else she would need. Everything, including a syringe.

Toni prepared enough of the solution to fill fourteen syringes and after administering the first dose explained to Mick how to go about the treatment. Ketch would need one dose a day at 07:39 precisely, for a week followed by a week of a dose at 19:39, to have even the slightest chance of survival.

"What are you going to do now?" Mick asked as she packed her equipment ready to go.

"As far as the Men of Letters are concerned, I'm still loyal and after I get back I'll tell them that you're both dead. They won't be bothering you again."

"Thank you Toni, really." Toni looked slightly uncomfortable with the thanks. Whether that was a result of residual guilt or just not being used to receiving thanks, Mick couldn't be sure. She didn't even respond just turned and left, passing a barely awake Dean Winchester on the way out.

Mick hadn't slept much and was exhausted. He went to the room he used last time he spent the night and fell asleep almost straight away. It was only about an hour later he was woken up by screaming.

He was straight out of bed and running towards the sound, following it to Ketch's room. He was still sleeping, clearly having a nightmare, so Mick shook him to wake him up. Ketch woke up with a start, disorientated and confused.

"You're alright mate, it was just a dream."

"Mick? Sorry did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but it's not your fault. Do you want to tell me about it?" He offered. Ketch just shook his head. "Alright mate. Do you want anything?"

"Tea, please." Mick went and made them each a cup of tea and brought them back to Ketch's room. The two of them drank their tea and talked about happier times. "Do you want to try and get some more sleep?" Mick asked.

"No, I don't want to sleep. But I think you should. You look awful."

Mick laughed. "Alright." He got himself comfortable in the chair and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Ketch asked.

"What does it look like? I'm going to sleep."

"There's beds Mick, you don't have to sleep in a chair."

"I know there are, but I'm not leaving you right now."

Ketch just rolled his eyes and smiled. Mick was still tired so it didn't take long for him to fall asleep again, and Ketch fell asleep shortly afterwards despite his attempts to stay awake.

After discussing with each other what to do next, Sam and Dean decided they needed to talk to Mick about his long term plans. He wasn't in his room so they searched for him. When they found him curled up on an uncomfortable chair in Ketch's room Sam wasn't sure if they should wake him.

Dean decided to wake him though because they needed to talk. They got Mick to follow them into the library away from the still sleeping Ketch.

"We let you sleep here, so now you're going to tell us what the hell's going on." Dean demanded.

"Okay. Ketch nearly died after he killed our boss instead of me. A long time ago, he was brainwashed and programmed by the Men of Letters so he would do whatever they asked him without question. Him breaking that and going against a direct order meant that he'd die. But Toni helped save him. It'll be tough but he'll recover." Mick explained.

"So, what's your plan now?" Sam asked.

"Help him recover and then, eventually, get rid of the Men of Letters if we can."

"We will help with the Men of Letters and let you stay here if you help with the Nephilim." Sam offered.

"We will help with Lucifer and the Nephilim" Mick agreed.

"Lucifer? He's in the cage" Dean responded.

"You don't know? He's free because of Crowley." He told them.

"Son of a bitch" Dean said.

"Thanks to the Men of Letters, we know a lot of stuff that can be useful to you."

Sam and Dean started bickering about what to do with Crowley, so Mick decided he should leave the room and he made some food, taking it into Ketch's room and waking him. The two of them ate together and Mick told him what he had discussed with the Winchesters. He asked if Ketch wanted to speak to them himself but Ketch refused. The two of them were talking when Sam came to check on them.

"Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

Ketch went quiet the second Sam walked in and wouldn't even look at him.

"Some books to pass the time would be nice" Mick said. Sam left the room and came back a minute later with a stack of books from the library. The two of them read in comfortable silence until nightfall, only stopping for food and drink and the occasional bathroom break.

That night, Mick once again slept in the chair in Ketch's room and was woken again by his nightmares. He woke Ketch and it took a minute for his breathing to get back to normal.

"You want to talk this time?" Mick asked.

"When I was being controlled, it was like I was drowning. The real me was trapped and I couldn't get out. I was dreaming that I was drowning again, but not in water. In the blood of the people they made me kill."


	2. Chapter 2

Mick was jolted awake by the sound of crashing and swearing outside Ketch's room. The morning treatments had finished the day before so he'd hoped if Ketch didn't have any more nightmares, he could sleep in. Apparently, the Winchesters had other ideas. Checking his friend was still asleep he went to open the bedroom door. There were Sam and Dean attempting to shift a sofa between them. The banging had been them trying to figure out how to open and get it through the door and the swearing was a result of Dean walking into the doorway and getting pinned there until Mick had opened the door.

"What are you both doing?" Mick whispered, trying not to wake Ketch.

"We noticed you kept sleeping on the desk chair and wanted you to have somewhere more comfortable to sleep." Sam's tone was equally hushed as he knew as well as Mick that Ketch needed to sleep in order to recover.

Mick moved to the side to allow the Winchesters entry. After ten minutes and a lot more swearing from Dean, the sofa was set up at the end of the bed. Sam and Dean left and Mick turned to Ketch. "You can stop pretending to sleep now."

"That was nice of them, considering they hate us." Ketch muttered, more to himself than his friend as he struggled to sit up. Mick moved to help but backed off when he was waved away.

"They don't hate us, if they hated us they wouldn't be willing to help us." Mick sat down on the new sofa, facing Ketch.

"Like Toni is willing to help us… why is she helping us?"

"Because of Archie." Mick said simply.

"Who's Archie?" Ketch was sure he'd heard the name before but it escaped him as to where.

"Archibald Bevell. He's your son."

"Oh…" Ketch wasn't really sure what to say to that. "He must be a special kid."

"He really is. He's one of the biggest bookworms I've ever met and he's so sweet. A little idealistic perhaps but he always likes to see the best in people." Ketch could tell from the sparkle in Mick's eyes just how much he cared about the boy.

"I'm glad he's got you and Toni."

"When all this is over, will he have you too?" Mick knew he was asking a lot but he needed to get the question out there. Ketch didn't answer. He didn't need to. His lack of an answer was enough for Mick. "You know Toni will ask too, just let her down easy." Ketch nodded, lying back down and turning his back to Mick, effectively cutting off the conversation there.

Mick decided to leave him there for the rest of the day and went to the Bunker's library, only stopping in to offer him lunch. By the time it was dinner time, he decided that he needed to get Ketch out of that room. He administered the treatment and Ketch didn't even glance up from the book in his hands. Mick, however, paused as he exited the room.

"Sam and Dean were talking about putting a film on, do you want to come and watch?" Mick asked from the doorway. Ketch looked up from the book he was reading and nodded, Mick approached the bed in an attempt to help him but was quickly brushed off.

"I can do it." Ketch mumbled, more to himself than Mick. Mick backed off, letting Ketch get, somewhat shakily, to his feet. Mick allowed Ketch to precede him so that he was there if something went wrong.

They made it to the lounge without incident and Ketch curled up on the armchair where nobody would be able to touch him by accident. Mick went to sit on the armchair opposite so he could keep half an eye on his friend whilst watching the film.

Sam and Dean were both very cagey about what film they were going to put on and, in truth, if Mick had known he'd have left Ketch to read in his room.

Neither of them had ever seen the Hunger Games before, but they had seen the trailers when it was first released often enough to recognise what it was.

Mick could see his friend tensing up as the film progressed before finally getting up to leave, visibly shaking. After checking that he was alright, Mick went back to Sam and Dean. They needed to know about what just happened.

_It was dark and wet in the cave. All Mick had to wear was the clothes he'd been dropped in but the flimsy t-shirt and the torn and dirty jeans he wore weren't nearly enough to keep him warm. He jumped at the sound of footsteps and clutched the handle of the hunting knife he was given tightly. As he peered round the rock he could see another boy had entered the cave. He had dark hair and despite his back being turned, Mick could just make out a gun in his hand. The boy turned and saw Mick hidden behind the boulder. He raised his gun with shaking hands at the sight of Mick's knife._

" _Please… please don't make me shoot you." Now Mick could see him properly, he could tell this boy must have been one of the legacies he'd heard about. Despite wearing what were obviously expensive designer clothes he couldn't seem to stop shaking for long enough to attempt firing. Mick saw this as the perfect time to make an ally._

" _I'm not going to hurt you." Mick tried to soothe him. "Long as you promise not to hurt me." Mick threw his knife to the side and the other boy seemed to relax considerably, lowering his gun and placing it to the side before approaching Mick._

" _My name's Ketch." He said that as if it was supposed to mean something to Mick, definitely a legacy. "Arthur Ketch." He added at Mick's obviously blank look. "And you're…"_

" _Mick Davies." He supplied, taking Ketch's outstretched hand to shake._

" _How long have you been here? Have you eaten yet?" Mick shook his head and Ketch reached into his jacket pocket to pull out some berries, showing them to Mick. Mick seemed hesitant to take them however. "They're safe, I promise." He ate one himself before passing the rest to Mick, to demonstrate that they weren't poisonous. Reassured, Mick ate the provided berries and almost jumped out of his skin when he felt something warm and soft against his bare arms. Ketch had shrugged out of his jacket and placed it around the other boy's shoulders when he noticed how much he was shivering._

" _Why is everyone killing each other?" Mick asked as he finished the berries, pulling the jacket tighter around himself as he looked up at Ketch from where he was sat on the floor._

_Ketch sat down opposite and took a moment to think before starting to talk. "It's because of the rules. All the legacies know that after initiation, only two thirds of the students that start it, get to make it into the school. They can't do so until a third die. In order to speed up the process some of the legacies start to kill "less valuable" students to get the whole ordeal over with."_

" _Some of the legacies, but not you."_

" _Not me."_

" _Why?" Mick wasn't sure what made him ask, but there was something about this boy that he already liked._

" _Because I don't think anyone here is more or less deserving than anyone else. I don't think that just because I'm a legacy and you're not, I should be here and you shouldn't. I shouldn't have any more rights than you do because of an accident of birth and I'd hope if our situations were reversed that you'd make the same decision."_

" _I'd hope s-" Mick was cut off by the sound of a girl screaming. The two boys shared a glance before running out of the cave in the direction of the screams. There was a girl lying on the floor with an arrow sticking out of her leg as two boys about twice her size stood over her, one was holding a bow and the other a sword raised to finish her off. Before Mick could even react the boy with the sword was dead on the floor, a bullet hole in his head. The boy with the bow turned and ran the moment he heard the gunshot._

_Mick knelt down next to the girl and shrugged off the jacket Ketch had given him to use as a makeshift tourniquet and bandage. It was too dangerous to remove the arrow because it was the only thing currently stopping her from bleeding out. Whilst she wasn't exactly heavy, it was still difficult for the two young boys to carry a now unconscious girl back to the cave._

_It was difficult to tell how long she was out for but by the time she woke, Ketch had finally stopped shaking (though was still in shock from having taken someone's life, even if in doing so he saved another) and between them the boys had managed to catch a rabbit to cook and eat, setting some aside for their new companion._

" _What's going on? Where am I?" The girl muttered, more to herself than either of the boys sat around the campfire. "Ow!" she exclaimed rather loudly as she attempted to sit up and jarred her bad leg. Mick was by her side in an instant, helping her to lean against the wall of the cave._

" _You're fine. Mick and I will keep you safe, nothing's going to happen to you." Ketch reassured her from her other side. "Right Mick?"_

" _Right, we'll look after you…" It was then that both of the boys realised they had yet to learn the girl's name._

" _Toni." She supplied them. "My name's Toni Bevell."_

" _Nice to meet you Toni, I'm Mick Davies and this is my new friend…" Mick paused for a moment and turned to Ketch. "What do you prefer to be called? Arthur or Ketch?"_

" _Ketch, Arthur is what my parents called me and besides using just my surname sounds more James Bond." Ketch replied with a grin._

" _Alright then," Mick turned back to Toni and picked up on what he was saying again. "And this is my new friend Ketch."_

" _It's a pleasure to meet you." She gave them a weak smile._

" _I know we've been trying to ignore the elephant in the room but, I've got to ask. What are we going to do? We don't know how much longer we're going to be here and Toni needs proper medical attention. So, unless someone wants to take one for the team, we need to come up with a plan."_

_It was two more days before the cannon was heard sounding the end of initiation, and one of the school's teachers was sent to find any surviving children. Toni's leg had become infected and they all knew that had it taken any longer she wouldn't have lived and certainly wouldn't have kept the leg._

The Winchesters stared at Mick in absolute horror. Unable to comprehend the savagery of what had happened to them at such a young age. Sam wanted to offer some words of comfort but Mick didn't want to hear it and Sam didn't really know what to say. Mick just stood and went back to Ketch's room to find his friend in the throes of a nightmare. He could tell already that this was going to be a very long night.

Mick didn't ask Ketch to leave his room again after that and Ketch didn't seem to particularly want to. It was therefore, more than a little surprising when Ketch asked if he could go with Mick to get a new book from the library. It was a huge step in such a small space of time that Mick found himself unable to refuse his friend such a simple request.

"Seriously Sammy, you've only ever had 3 human girlfriends. Just ask the girl out!"

"I am not asking Eileen out! Just cut it out Dean!" The Winchesters were so engrossed in their argument that they didn't even notice when Mick and Ketch entered the library.

"You so obviously like her!"

It was at this point that Sam noticed the other occupants of the room. "What do you guys think? We're clearly just friends, right?"

"Actually Sam, I have to agree with your brother." Mick told him as he pulled out a chair for Ketch.

Sam looked to Ketch for help. He wasn't expecting a response because they'd had nothing from Ketch since he woke up. "I don't know. I've never met her." Ketch muttered, eyes never leaving the table top. He couldn't help smiling though at Dean's exclamation and the loud thud of him falling off his chair in shock.

Sam and Dean both stared at Ketch. In all the time they'd known him, they had never seen Ketch smile. Well, not properly anyway. The smiles they had seen had always had something dark and malicious behind them, but this was the first 'that's quite funny' smile they'd ever seen on his face. Ketch was beginning to feel a little self-conscious when Mick changed the subject. "Anyway, did I hear someone say Sam's had 3 human girlfriends? What else has he dated?"

Sam buried his head in his hands as Dean went on to explain about his relations with Madison and Ruby and even mentioned Sam's crush on Amy. "At least I didn't have a kid with an Amazon." Sam retorted, glaring at his brother. "Or sleep with an angel."

"She was human at the time!"

"She was still an angel!"

Dean huffed at that. He couldn't really argue that point so instead did what the Winchesters do best and deflected. "What about you two? Do you have any monstrous exes we should know about?"

"Not really. Dated a couple of girls at Kendricks but nothing particularly serious." Mick explained with a shrug.

Ketch was suddenly very aware that all eyes were on him and he could hear someone moving behind him. "I… no… there hasn't been anyone other than Toni…"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" They all jumped at the sound of Mary's voice. She'd been in the kitchen making something for her sons to have for lunch when she heard their conversation.

Mick placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in an attempt to keep him calm. "What do you mean Mom?" Sam asked, noticing how all the colour had completely drained from Ketch's face.

"Given that we were sleeping together I know for a fact that wasn't true."

"You were… Oh." Mick stopped when he saw the distraught look on his friend's face. "You were ordered to, weren't you." It wasn't a question, but he still received a nod in reply.

"But, you said he couldn't disobey orders…" Dean looked like he wanted to be sick at the realisation.

"They…" Ketch swallowed before starting again. "They wanted me to make her have feelings for me… so… so they could control her more easily." He spoke as if Mary wasn't practically breathing down his neck and kept his eyes trained firmly on his hands, clasped on the table in front of him. As if he believed that being unable to see the room's other occupants would make them somehow disappear.

This was enough to make Mary completely flip her lid. She started a full-on rant about how dare they treat her like that? And Who the hell did they think they were? Nobody was paying her any attention though, they'd all noticed the way Ketch appeared to sink lower into his chair with every word. Finally, Dean had enough. "Mom, stop!" Mary froze, stopping mid word. "Can you not see that he was as much as a victim as you were? I would say more so because, and I hate myself for having to say this, you chose to sleep with him. He didn't choose to sleep with you."

"What are you suggesting?" Mary narrowed her eyes at her eldest son.

"I'm saying that if you can't get your head out of your ass for long enough to see the bigger picture, then you're not welcome here anymore." Dean paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm saying that after so many years without you, and even since you came back we've barely seen you, we can manage without you here. What we can't do is sit here and listen to you badmouth our friends." Sam was staring at Dean now, he wasn't sure what it was that made Dean change his mind but he was singing a completely different tune from when Mick and Ketch first arrived on their doorstep all those days ago.

Mary wanted to argue, wanted to scream and shout. In all honesty, she wanted to kill Ketch. She almost hadn't recognised him when she walked in. His signature cockiness and confidence was gone and he barely spoke, but she still wanted him dead. He was the reason she was being told to leave, being kicked out by her own son. But she knew that would only make matters worse and their relationship would be irreparably ruined. That is if she even lived that long. The look she was receiving from Mick seemed to suggest that he'd probably kill her if she tried and she wouldn't have been surprised if Sam and Dean helped. So she left, figuring that once things had calmed down she might just be able to make her boys see things her way. She hoped. In that moment, she never once considered that her reaction had been anything more than anger. She refused to let herself admit to the feeling of guilt that would one day overcome her.

"I'm so sorry about that." Sam told Ketch earnestly. Anything he could possibly say didn't come close to expressing how awful he felt about what just transpired. Ketch just nodded. He didn't blame Sam or Dean and couldn't fail to notice the looks of disappointment when he chose not to give a verbal reply. Nobody blamed him but at the same time, they were all a little disappointed at the lapse and they were all even more eager to make Mary pay for causing it.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dean, have you seen Ketch anywhere?" Mick asked as he walked into the garage where Dean was working on the Impala.

"I thought he was with you." Dean didn't even look up from where his head was stuck under the car's bonnet.

"I haven't seen him since he told Sam he was going to do a stock check. But when I went to check on him, he wasn't there." Dean shrugged, having absolutely no clue what to suggest. Mick decided that since he'd looked everywhere in the bunker, he'd have a look outside.

Day was turning to Dusk as Mick left the bunker, he didn't need to go very far before he found his friend leaning against the wall with a lit cigarette between his lips. "So is this where you've been all this time?" Mick asked.

Ketch shook his head. "Went to get these." He held up the cigarette box for Mick to see. Mick knew this was definitely not good. The nearest shop that sold that particular brand was in Lebanon which was over an hour away on foot. He couldn't have taken a car because Dean would have seen him leave.

"I thought you'd quit." Everyone knew Ketch smoked whilst they were in school but nobody blamed him because they all wanted to too. They often just weren't brave enough to try and get them whilst underage.

"I did." He held the cigarette between his fore and middle fingers as he blew out a puff of smoke. "This doesn't count."

"How doesn't it count?"

Ketch sighed, putting out the cigarette on the wall beside him and shaking another from the box. "Because even when I stopped I never completely stopped. We're in…" he paused for a moment before rethinking his wording. "We were in an incredibly stressful line of work and if I had a bad day this was the only thing that would stop me from going out there and killing something. I know I promised you and Toni that I'd stop but sometimes…"

"Sometimes it gets too much and you need the extra support." Mick finished for him. "Those things will kill you, you know."

"If they think they can kill me before some creature does then I'd like to see them try." He placed the second cigarette between his lips but made no effort to light it. Instead just stood there, flipping the zippo in his hand open and closed. Open and closed. Almost mesmerized by the action.

"Is that what this is about? Dying?"

"Give me a break Mick. I'm not scared of dying. Never have been."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Because I think that's exactly what this is about." Mick took a step closer. "I think that the fact that you just nearly died scares you. It scares you because since we left school you've let yourself believe you're indestructible and now you realise you're not, you're trying to… what? Speed up the process of your demise?"

"Well wouldn't you be scared?" Ketch snapped. "Knowing that when you die your options are demon or ghost? You'll be fine because you've only ever killed when you had to. I… I killed so many people and I enjoyed it Mick."

"You had no control over any of that."

"That's not the point. The point is that I enjoyed it and for that there's only one direction I could be headed in."

"Well assuming you're right and I ended up in heaven without you. I wouldn't let that stand. I'd use Sam and Dean's influence to get that changed because you don't deserve anything that's happened to you, whatever you keep telling yourself. And you sure as hell don't deserve Hell. Got it?"

Ketch nodded, still looking unconvinced as they walked back inside. When they entered the library, Sam looked up at them from the book he was reading.

"Do you have any protection sigils?" He asked.

"What?" Mick was slightly flummoxed by the question and not completely understanding Sam's meaning. Luckily Sam realised this and pulled his shirt collar to the side to show what he meant. Mick could see the anti-possession sigil tattooed on his chest and paled slightly. He'd never liked needles and was pretty sure he knew where this was going.

"No we don't," Ketch answered for him. "There was never any need."

"Well now you need to." Ketch nodded in understanding, he knew it was necessary but at the same time couldn't help a glance at Mick. He knew how the other man had always felt about needles. He'd never really explained where the fear came from but Ketch was pretty sure it was related to Mick's time on the streets somehow. Sam got up to get his jacket, not even waiting for a reply whilst Ketch placed a reassuring hand on Mick's shoulder.

"Whilst we're out, we should get you both some clothes so Dean can have his back." They'd both started having to borrow clothes from the elder Winchester not long after arriving due to their rush to leave the base and Toni's inability to bring their possessions to them without arising suspicion. As the closest to them in height Dean was somewhat bullied by his younger brother into loaning the brits a couple of flannels and pairs of jeans each.

Whilst he wasn't sure about the distressed jeans, even Ketch had to admit that the ratty flannels were quite comfortable. Not that he'd ever do so out loud, Mick would never let him live it down.

They went to the tattoo parlour first. Ketch went first, electing to get his tattoo in the same place as Sam and Dean. Mick on the other hand, held back. He didn't particularly want to get it done but at the same time he knew it would keep him safe. In the end, Ketch wound up sitting with him whilst he got it done. As much as he was sure he'd be worth it, it didn't mean he had to like it.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a knock on the bunker door and Sam answered. It was Toni. He still had a little resentment towards her for torturing him, but he knew they would need her, so he let her in.

Once she was inside she ignored both of the Winchesters and went straight to Mick, handing him an envelope marked confidential.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked her. "I thought you were just going to send the information."

"Thinking isn't really your strong suit. Some things are just too important to entrust to the postal service, and emails can be hacked. This is the safest way. Besides, I wanted to check and see how the treatments are going."

"They are going well. He has most of his strength back and he's talking again now. I think he's going to be okay." Mick responded.

Ketch walked into the room then and there was an awkward silence. "I should go." Toni said after a moment and turned to leave.

"Wait," Ketch said. "I think we should talk first."

"Oh look at the time" Dean said, checking his phone. "Sammy, we've got that thing we have to go to."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brothers terrible attempt to get out of an awkward situation, but followed him out of the room anyway.

"I think I'll go too." Mick said. "Give the two of you some privacy." He left and they were alone. They hadn't been alone together in a long time, so it was slightly uncomfortable for them both. Ketch sat down and Toni sat opposite him.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked a little nervously.

"I think it's about time we clear the air about what happened between us. It was such a long time ago now, and we've all done things because we didn't have a choice. I blamed you for a long time, but I've been thinking since I became myself again, and I understand why you did it."

"I never wanted to hurt you Ketch. I cared about you." I loved you, she silently corrected. But she didn't say that to him at the time so it wouldn't do any good to say that now. "I made the choice that I thought was right. I didn't know what they were going to make me do to you."

"I know. It was a cruel ultimatum but it wasn't your fault. I know that now. And you made the right choice. From what Mick tells me, he sounds like a great kid."

She smiled. "He is. He reminds me a lot of you when we first met. He is the reason I want the Men of Letters gone. They want to recruit him, but I can't let that happen."

"We won't let it happen. Even if we have to kill them all, we will stop them from hurting any more kids." Ketch wasn't one for making promises but he knew that he would do this, or die trying.

"Maybe when this is all over, assuming we survive, you could meet him."

"He doesn't need me showing up in his life and complicating things. I appreciate the offer, but he would be better off if I stayed away." He explained. "Now that's cleared up, truce?"

She nodded. "Truce. I should get going. We have a meeting and they will get suspicious if I'm not there."

"They're always suspicious. Besides, it's just like old times. Me making you late for meetings." He laughed.

"Yes but we both know there was a lot less talking involved last time you made me late for a meeting. And the time before that. And the time before that." She couldn't help but smile at the memories. "Goodbye Ketch." She got up and left.

"See you soon sweetheart," he called after her.


	5. Chapter 5

After weeks of searching, Sam and Dean finally found Kelly. As relieved as they were to know where she was, they still needed a plan to get her alone and save her and her baby without the risk to other people.

They talked to Mick and Ketch about what to do next. Mick suggested that Sam and Dean keep looking for a way to deal with the nephilim situation, while him and Ketch go and keep an eye on Kelly. That way they could track Dagon's movements and know when Kelly will be alone. They drove there straight away.

"Are we just going to sit here and wait?" Ketch asked, a little annoyed.

"Yes. Look, I know this isn't going to be fun and you'd rather just go in there and kill the demon. But for now, we have to wait. Besides, we made a deal with Sam and Dean. We help them with the Nephilim, and they help with the Men of Letters." Mick responded.

"Fine. But I'm just saying that there would be a lot more room if we did a stake out in the Bentley. This car has no room."

"Let it go already. This is our car, accept it. We will take it in turn to sleep."

Over the course of the next couple of days, they did just that. They took shifts for sleep and there was always one of them awake to watch the house. Dagon left each day at the same time to collect supplies and food for Kelly. Mick contacted the Winchesters to keep them updated, and Sam told them about his idea for a grace extraction ritual, which would make the child human. They agreed to meet in a cafe near the house Kelly was being held to go over the plan.

"Morning lads." Ketch greeted them as they entered. Sam and Dean sat down at their table.

"What's the plan?" Dean asked.

"Still not one for small talk I see. The plan is to go this afternoon at 12:30. That's when Dagon leaves the house. Since you are the ones with a pre-existing relationship, you should be the ones to convince her to leave. I assume you have somewhere to take her."

"Yes. An old hunter friend of ours, Rufus, kept a safe house near here." Sam told him.

"Excellent. It'll need to be warded against both angels and demons." Ketch responded.

"It already is. He was a little paranoid, so he warded it against everything."

They ate breakfast together and then Mick and Ketch drove them to the house, leaving the Impala behind because it would draw too much attention. As soon as Dagon was out of sight, the four of them entered through the back door. They found her in the basement and Sam cautiously approached her.

"Kelly? We're here to get you out. If you come with us, we can save you and your baby."

"You're lying." she said. "I know you want to kill us."

"That's not true. We never wanted to kill you. We found another way, but you have to trust us. Come with us, please?" She agreed to go with them, but only because her only other option was to stay with a demon.

They took her to Rufus' safe house. It was surrounded completely by an iron fence and inside there were sigils painted on every wall, door and window.

"I know it's not much, but here you'll be hidden from anyone that would try and hurt you or your baby." Sam told her.

This whole thing was difficult for all of them, but more so for Ketch. It was taking every bit of his self control to resist his training and not shoot her. He had to go outside to get away from her. Noticing this, Mick followed him.

"You alright mate?" He asked.

"I will be. I just haven't been on a hunt, or anything close to one, since we left the Men of Letters."

"Oh." Mick didn't really know what to say.

"I need to kill something, now. And being in the same room as that woman was making it very difficult not to do just that."

"The demon's still out there, focus on that. We could eliminate the threat to the safety of what will soon be just an innocent child." Mick suggested.

"You're right." Ketch was already feeling a little better now that he had something to focus on. "It won't take long before the demon will start looking for her, if it's not already. So perhaps we could set some kind of trap. Now that the warding is concealing the child's power, we could duplicate it at another location to lure the demon into our trap."

"That's a good plan." Mick said. "Maybe once they get the grace from the extraction ritual we could use that. Are you going to be alright to go back in?"

"I'll be fine." he said and the two of them went back in the room. Sam and Dean were sat down with Kelly, explaining to her about the ritual.

"Who would be the one to do it?" She asked.

"We've already called Cas. He agreed to be the one to do it, and he can heal you when it's done." She just nodded. It was a lot to take in, but she knew it was for the best.

It wasn't long before Castiel arrived. After exchanging brief hello's with Sam and Dean, he sat down next to Kelly. "Do you understand what is about to happen?"

"Yes. You're going to make my baby human."

"I am going to try. But there are risks to this procedure. It will be extremely painful for you." He explained.

"I understand. But if it will help him then I'll do it."

Dean handed over the extraction needle, and Cas started the ritual straight away. The whole time, Mick kept a close watch on Ketch to make sure he was okay. He saw the way Ketch flinched every time the needle went deeper and her screams got louder. Mick took that as progress, because Ketch was still in the room and wasn't shaking.

Once it was finally over, Cas healed her. "You need to rest and get your strength back." he told her. "But first I need to make sure it worked. This may feel strange, but it won't hurt."

Using his powers he scanned her entire body checking for signs of angelic grace. The baby was unharmed and human. He told Kelly that they had succeeded and she was so exhausted she fell asleep soon after.

"Castiel?" Mick approached him. "We're going to need that grace. Dagon is still out there and we'll need that to trap her."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Cas asked.

"It's better than waiting for her to attack. Sooner or later she's going to find Kelly and the baby. Trust us Castiel, it's what we do." Ketch added

Cas handed over the needle. "Maybe you should take Sam and Dean with you." He suggested.

"We'll be fine. I appreciate the concern but we can handle it." Mick said.

Mick and Ketch left, driving for about an hour to an abandoned house. They wanted to be far enough away that if they failed to kill the demon, she wouldn't be able to easily find Kelly.

Once they were inside, they painted devils traps on the ceilings and laid out rings of holy fire on the ground. The two of them got to work on the spell, using half of the extracted grace, to amplify that power so it would act as a beacon to the demon.

The wooden door was blown into splinters and Dagon entered, grinning at them.

"You can't beat me," she said, taunting them, breaking the devil's trap with a wave of her hand. "Where is the child?"

"He's safe." Mick responded. She sent him flying through the air and crashing into the wall. She stepped forward and Ketch lit the holy fire, trapping her. Mick pulled himself to his feet and handed Ketch the Colt, which Dean loaned to him before they left the bunker, and Ketch shot Dagon in the head without a seconds hesitation. The two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" Mick asked.

"Would you please stop asking me that?" Ketch said, exasperated.

"Sorry. It's just, that's your first kill since Hess."

"I'm alright Mick. Don't worry so much."

The two of went back to Rufus' safe house. Kelly was still sleeping, with Cas beside her monitoring her recovery. The Winchesters were in the corner quietly arguing about something, so Mick and Ketch cautiously approached them.

"What's going on?" Mick asked.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Dean asked, angrily.

Mick handed the colt back to him. "We killed Dagon." He told them.

"You're welcome." Ketch said after a few seconds of Sam and Dean just glaring at them.

"The two of you went against a Prince of Hell on your own? What were you thinking? You could have been killed." Sam said.

"I suppose. But we weren't." Ketch responded. "So what is the problem?"

"Ketch, don't." Mick said in a warning tone.

"All I'm saying is some gratitude would be nice."

"Fine" Dean grunted. "Thanks for killing the evil bitch, but next time take us with you." They agreed.

"What do we do with the girl now?" Mick asked them.

"That's what we were trying to figure out. We can't let her go yet, not with Lucifer still out there." Sam told him.

"This place is warded against everything, is it not?" Ketch asked. Sam nodded. "Well then, I think it's obvious she should stay here. Lucifer will not be able to get to her, and your angel can stay and protect her. And make sure she doesn't go getting herself into trouble."

The Winchesters reluctantly agreed to the plan. As much as they wanted Cas to return to the bunker with them, they both knew that Kelly needed him more than they did.

They got back to the bunker and were exhausted. It had been a really long day, so without another word they all went to bed.

The next morning, Mick woke up and realised Ketch was gone. In a panic, he picked up his phone and started calling him. It went straight to voicemail. He paced in the library, and called over and over but to no avail.

The Winchesters woke up and saw him. "What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"Ketch is gone." Mick responded.

"I'm sure he's fine. Call him and see where he is." Sam said.

"I have been calling." Mick replied, getting a little frustrated.

"He'll be back, let the guy have some time alone." Dean told him.

"You think this is a joke? Yesterday he killed for the first time in months, and now he's gone. You've killed before Dean, so tell me how easy is it for a killer to go on a rampage after so long?"

The door opened before Dean had chance to answer, and Ketch walked in. "Where the hell have you been?" Mick demanded.

"I went for a walk. You were all asleep and I was bored, so I went out." Ketch explained.

"Told you." Dean said to Mick. "He was worried you'd gone to kill some people."

"You don't trust me?" Ketch said angrily. "How could you think that?"

"I'm sorry. You killed again yesterday, and you were just gone this morning. You weren't answering your phone. I didn't know what to think."

"I killed a demon yesterday, because that's what we do. I didn't harm an innocent person, and I won't ever do that again. And the reason I wasn't answering my phone is because the battery died." Ketch went to his room and stayed in there. He wouldn't even come out for food or drink.

The Winchesters tried talking to him, but he ignored them. After a while, they convinced Mick to apologise. Not that he thought it wasn't him that upset Ketch, he knew it was. He just wasn't sure what to say to him.

He knocked. "Ketch, I just want to talk. Can I come in?" No answer. "Come on, please?" Nothing. "I'm coming in anyway. We need to talk about this."

He walked in and Ketch was sitting on his bed. "What do you want Mick?"

"I want to apologise. I shouldn't have thought you would hurt anyone. I overreacted. But I only did that because I was worried about you. You're right though, you are my friend and I should have trusted you. Please forgive me."

There was a pause before Ketch spoke. "All that time with the men of letters, I believed I was doing what was right. The killing was justified. But the thing is, I never wanted to kill anyone. I just forgot who I really was, and that's not who I am now. I'm not a killer anymore Mick, not to innocent people, and as my friend you can't keep treating me like one."

"I know, and I won't." Mick said. He felt awful for assuming the worst. "Can we forget I ever said that?" He asked.

"Alright." Ketch agreed. "On the condition that you will not do that again and if I do ever hurt an innocent human, I will tell you and we can deal with it then."

"Sounds fair." Mick responded. "So, you want to get some food?"

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. The four of them just relaxed and talked and shared a few drinks. It wasn't until the next day that they started working again.

"The Nephilim and Dagon are taken care of, but that still leaves Lucifer. We need to come up with a plan to deal with him." Mick suggested over breakfast.

"The four of us against him, without backup, he'd slaughter us." Ketch said.

"We need more power on our side. Without an archangel's blade we can't kill him, and we don't have access to that here. Michael is in the cage, Raphael is dead and Gabriel is still imprisoned. We couldn't get his help from here."

"I'm sorry, what?" Dean said. "Gabriel is supposed to be dead. Lucifer killed him."

"Ah. You didn't know. The truth is, he faked his death. Since the fight between Michael and Lucifer was taking place in America, he decided he could stay out of it by coming to Britain. But the men of letters captured him, and have been using his power for their own advantage ever since. You see, with the right mix of spell work, it's possible to enslave an angel no matter how powerful they may be." He explained. "But since we don't have the weapon we can't kill Lucifer. Trying to would be foolish."

"So, what do we do? Send him back to the cage?" Sam asked.

"Yes. That does seem like the best option. Of course, we can't do that alone." Ketch told him.

"Great." Dean said sarcastically. "That means we need Rowena."

"And anyone else that is powerful enough to help us." Mick added. "Crowley might be able to help. It would be useful to have angel power on our side too. But since Castiel is protecting Kelly, do you know of any other angels that we can get to help us?"

The Winchesters thought for a minute. "I got nothing." Dean stated.

"I can't think of any. The only other angels we know are dead." Sam said.

"I might know of one." Ketch told them a little reluctantly. "I don't even know if she's still alive, but she owes me a favour."

"Who is it?" Dean asked.

"Adriel. She's the angel of death and destruction. My family kept her enslaved for generations. The last night I spent in my parents house before they sent me away, I freed her."

"You think she'd help us?" Dean asked.

"I doubt she'd help you, but if I asked she might. Like I said, she owes me." Ketch answered. "That is if she is still alive. I haven't seen her in a very long time."

"Okay. So Mick can do a summoning spell for Adriel, and Ketch can convince her to help. Dean, you go to get Crowley and I will find Rowena." Sam said. They all agreed and went to carry out their separate tasks.

Mick immediately started gathering the ingredients for the summoning spell, whilst Sam and Dean left the bunker and Ketch tried desperately to think of what to say if Adriel actually shows up. It had been so many years. What was he supposed to say to convince her to join their fight against Lucifer?

"Ketch? Are you going to help or are you too nervous about calling your girlfriend for a favour?" Mick teased.

"What are you talking about?" Ketch questioned.

"Adriel. You told me all about her when we were kids. You had a huge crush on her."

"That was a long time ago." Ketch stated.

"Yes, and you haven't seen her since." Mick said. "For all you know, you might still like her."

"Shut up Mick" Ketch said, glaring at him. Mick just laughed. He was quite possibly the only person in the world that could touch a nerve like that with Ketch and not get so much as a punch in the face.

Mick got to work on the spell, and it wasn't long before Adriel was stood in front of them. She wasn't at all like Mick had pictured. He expected someone that resembled Toni, but with her black hair and brown eyes they couldn't have been more different.

"Why have you summoned me here?" She said, her voice edging towards anger as she demanded answers from Mick.

"Because I asked him to." Ketch told her.

She turned towards him and her anger turned to shock and disbelief when she saw his face. "Arthur? That can't be you."

"Its me, but I just go by Ketch now. It's been a long time." He said with a smile.

"Well then, Ketch, perhaps you can explain to me why I am here." She responded, in a much calmer tone now.

"We need help. More specifically angelic help. We're about to walk into a fight with Lucifer, and I don't think I need to tell you what our chances of survival would be without you." Ketch explained.

"Even with me you may not survive. Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked. She didn't care about anyone else, but she and Ketch had a history together. He saved her.

"We made a deal. I have to do this." He insisted.

"Alright. Just this once I'll help you. But going up against Lucifer for you more than makes us even."

"Of course" he agreed.

"Please tell me you have a plan" she said.

"We... plan to put him back in the cage." Mick told her.

She stared at them in disbelief. "That's it? Do you have any clue how you are going to do that?"

"Not yet." Ketch admitted. "But we're working on it."

She was about to chastise them for being so reckless when the door slammed and Dean stormed in, visibly furious.

"What happened? Where's Crowley?" Mick asked him.

"That son of a bitch wouldn't come. Lucifer is out because of him, but he refused to help us. All he did was give us angel blade bullets, which might not even work against the fricking devil." Dean took a breath to try and calm down while Mick and Ketch focused on strategy.

"What if we find a way to weaponise the remains of the Nephilim grace?" Mick asked.

"Temporarily of course. If we injected someone with it, that power boost would help us defeat him."

"You can't inject a human with the power from the Nephilim of an archangel. They'd explode." Adriel told him.

"What if we inject it into you?" Ketch asked her.

"I wouldn't die, but if we're going to do that we'd have to wait until the last possible moment. That grace mixed with my own, it would burn out quickly. So we wouldn't have long." She explained.

The door opened again and Sam walked in, dragging Rowena behind him by the iron chains bound to her wrists. They quickly went over the plan and left, deciding it was best to get it over with as soon as possible for the sake of Kelly and her child. It was Sam's idea to summon him to stull cemetery.

It wasn't long before they were completely set up and ready. Rowena had surrounded herself with protection magic, so she could do what she needed to without any risk to her life if it were to go wrong. Sam had removed her chains, after warning her that he'd be more than happy to kill her if she were to betray them.

While he did that, Mick got set up for the spell he was to cast, Dean and Ketch loaded the weapons and Adriel simply waited.

There was nothing left to do now but to summon Lucifer. He reached them within seconds of them completing the spell.

He appeared in front of them with a smirk on his face. "This must be my lucky day. I've been looking for you." He said in a tone that sent chills down their spines. He barely paid any attention to anyone else, he focused all of his attention on Sam and Dean. "Now boys, I'm going to give you a choice. Tell me where my son is and I'll let you live. Don't tell me and, well, I'll just have to rip the information out of you. That can get a little... messy."

"Screw you" Dean retaliated.

"We're not telling you anything." Sam added.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Winchesters. So stubborn. Okay, have it your way." He started throwing them around. He grabbed hold of Sam, punching him, throwing him to the ground and kicking him in the stomach and chest.

In an effort to protect his brother, Dean pulled himself back to his feet and grabbed his gun. He shot Lucifer repeatedly with the angel blade bullets that Crowley had given him. It didn't do any damage at all to the Archangel, who turned his attention to Dean.

Sam lay unconscious on the floor as Lucifer grabbed Dean by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "You can't hurt me Dean. But it's cute to see you try." He started hitting him over and over. All of this happened so quickly that the others barely had time to react.

Once they recovered from the initial shock of being confronted with the devil himself, they got to work. Ketch shot at him, just as Dean had done, simply to distract him. That gave Mick chance to start a spell to paralyse Lucifer. At least, that's what they thought.

Before Mick could say the final words of the spell, Lucifer teleported and appeared behind Ketch, grabbing him in a headlock. "One more word and it's bye bye Ketchie" Lucifer warned.  
Mick froze. He wasn't a hunter, not really, he didn't know what he was supposed to do here. Should he continue, knowing that Lucifer would kill Ketch? Or should he stop the spell and save his friend? He chose the latter.

Never one to give up easily, Adriel stepped forward. Lucifer hadn't even noticed she was there until that moment. "Adriel? Long time no see baby sis. How long has it been, a few millennium? Tell me, you wreak any havoc lately?" He said gleefully.

"Not nearly enough" she responded before driving the needle into her heart and injecting herself with the Nephilim grace. The power boost was immediate. She used it to throw him to the ground and hold him there, away from Ketch. "I love you brother, but I won't let you hurt my friend."

"What is it with you angels caring for lesser beings? They are nothing. Powerless, filthy animals-" Lucifer started, but Adriel used her new abilities to choke him with his own Grace, effectively silencing him, before exercising him from his vessel. Now that he was no longer confined to a physical form, Rowena was able to send him back to the cage.

They didn't have chance to feel relieved before Adriel fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The Nephilim grace was burning out. Literally, it was cooking her insides. They could feel waves of heat radiating from her. Ketch tried to go to her and help somehow, but she demanded he stayed back. Nobody knew what to do.

"Mick, is there a spell that can stop this?" Ketch asked desperately.

"No. Nothing I've ever heard of." Mick answered.

They both turned towards Rowena at the same time but she'd already fled. She ran the second Lucifer was back in the cage.

"Could we extract the grace again?" Ketch questioned.

"There's no way to extract the Nephilim Grace without also removing her own. If we do that, she'll be made human. The damage it's already done to her might kill her. Our only option is to wait this out." Mick explained.

Adriel's entire body glowed golden before she lost consciousness. When she woke up, Ketch was kneeling on the ground beside her and Mick stood behind him, both looking concerned. She looked around to see that they were the only ones left.

"How long was I out? Where is everyone?" She asked, confused.

"About an hour. Rowena ran and the Winchesters left to tell Kelly that her and the baby are safe. Are you okay?"

"I'm weak. My grace is drained." She told him.

"So does that mean you're human?" Mick asked.

"No, not exactly. My grace is still there, but barely. It'll regenerate, but that could take some time."

"Then come back with us." Ketch suggested. "You'll be safe at the bunker, and we'll help you until you don't need us anymore."

It took a little convincing, but they got her to agree to go with them. Mostly because she had no other options. She didn't even have the strength to stand, Ketch had to carry her.

Over the next few weeks, Ketch kept a close eye on her. He took care of her just as Mick had done for him when they first arrived. The others were all starting to get concerned. It wasn't like Ketch to allow himself to care this much, and they knew it wouldn't be long before she'd have to leave. They didn't want him to get hurt when that happened, so Mick decided it was time to intervene.

"Ketch, can I have a word?" Mick said as he entered Ketch's room. He and Adriel had been talking and laughing in there for hours. Ketch nodded and followed Mick out to the corridor.

"What is it?" Ketch asked.

"I'm worried about you. Adriel, she's almost at full strength. It'll be a matter of days before she's gone. Why are you making it your job to take care of her?"

"Because I did this." Ketch answered. Mick just looked at him in confusion, so he continued. "I brought her into this fight. I suggested she be the one to use the Nephilim grace. I almost killed her."

"No you didn't." Mick insisted. "You asked her to join, she agreed. I suggested using the Nephilim grace as a weapon, so if anything that's on me. And she's not almost dead. She's almost ready to leave." He paused. "Are you going to be okay when she does?"

"Of course." Ketch told him. "Of course I've enjoyed her company, but I knew it was going to end."

Mick could tell it was hurting his friend more than he would ever admit, but he also knew it was best not to push him on this. He accepted Ketch's insistence that he was fine. The next day, they went to check on Adriel and she was gone. Mick tried to ask Ketch if he was alright, but Ketch just ignored him.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam and Dean were getting more and more annoyed trying to figure out what Toni's intel said. It was just a jumbled up mess of letters and numbers.

"Why is she doing this now? All her other intel was easy to read" Sam said, clearly frustrated that he couldn't crack the code. Ketch walked in and saw the two of them bickering about the best way to solve it.

"What are you doing?" He asked them.

They showed him the piece of paper. "What the hell are we supposed to do with this? It's gibberish."

He took it from them. "No it's not." He carefully examined the writing. "I need a pen and paper." They handed it to him and he started translating. "Toni, Mick and I invented this code as children so we could communicate in a way that our superiors wouldn't be able to read. Oh, this is bad." Sam and Dean waited impatiently for him to tell them. "The Men of Letters are planning an attack on this place. They are putting together a combat team to come here in the morning."

"Great" Dean said sarcastically. "So now what?"

"We need to come up with a plan." Sam said.

"Well, we know they are coming here so we have taken away their advantage. I suggest we divide and conquer. The two of you stay here and take out the strike team and we will head to the base and we'll eliminate them all in one go."

The Winchesters agreed to that plan. Mick came back with the food then they told him everything they knew about the attack and gave him the plan. After dinner, the four of them divided up the weapons. Some in the car for Mick and Ketch, and the rest remained in the bunker.

Mick pulled Ketch to one side when they were done. "The plan for tomorrow is good, but it's not enough. The Men of Letters back in London still need to be dealt with."

"I know but we can't do that from here. It will have to wait."

"Maybe we can do it from here." Mick responded. "If we can combine Enochian magic with blood communication spells, we could contact the angels in London. We could offer them their freedom if they help us kill them."

They gathered up all the ingredients they needed. "Before we do this, which angel do we contact? It has to be one powerful enough to rally them all against the elders, and we have to be able to trust them." Ketch pointed out to him.

"The most powerful is obviously Gabriel, but with his reputation could we really trust him?"

"Well, he hates them as much as we do, and a common enemy is a powerful thing."

"Gabriel it is then" Mick said with a sigh. "You'd better be right about this."

Ketch smirked at him, as if to say he was always right. They started working on the spell, using Ketch's blood, and it connected them almost instantly.

"Gabriel? Are you alone?" Mick asked, trying to make sure the conversation was confidential.

"Well, if it isn't the chuckle brothers. It's just me, to what do I owe this little chat?" Gabriel replied.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need your help." Mick was still unsure if Gabriel was the right choice, but they didn't have a lot of options.

"Why would I do that?" Gabriel responded.

"Because, what we are asking will be beneficial to you too." Ketch added. "We need you to kill the old men that are keeping you captive and anyone else that stands with them."

"Tempting. I can't deny I want to rip them limb from limb, but I couldn't help you if I tried. They have me in Enochian chains, I'm powerless." He told them.

"We'll send someone to release you. You get your freedom and revenge, and we get rid of them. It's a win-win. The only question now is will you help us?" Mick asked.

"I don't see why not. It's not like I've got any better options." Gabriel said.

"We'll send someone soon. Feel free to extend the offer to the other angels." Mick said. Gabriel agreed and they ended the connection.

"Who should we ask to release him?" Ketch asked.

"James?" Mick suggested. He went to school with them and one of very few that could be trusted with this. "He hates being part of the men of letters, the only reason he stayed is because he doesn't have anywhere else to go. But with his daughter, he has as much reason as we do to want them gone. Plus a lot of the younger members owe him their lives, so they will be more likely to side with him than the old men."

Ketch agreed that he was their best choice, so Mick called him. "James, it's Mick Davies. I need a favour."

"Mick? I thought you were dead." James responded in his thick Scottish accent.

"Right. Long story, I'll explain another time. For now I need you to do something really important. We have to get rid of the old men so no kids are treated like we were ever again. Will you help?" He asked in a pleading tone.

"Yeah, of course. What's the plan?" James asked.

"We need you to free Gabriel. He's agreed to help and to get the other angels on side. Then get as many people as you can trust to join you as well. The next part involves a lot of killing of the old men and their followers." Mick told him.

"Well I don't enjoy killing, but I'll do it to stop any other kids being hurt." James responded.

"Thanks mate, give us a call when it's done. Good luck." They said goodbye and James went to work freeing the angels and recruiting while Mick and Ketch went over their plan to take down the men of letters that were still in the base.

That night, none of them got much sleep. Every moment since Hess' death had been leading to this fight, and if they survived they would have to go back home and try and figure out what their lives would be like without the Men of Letters.

It was early the next morning when Mick and Ketch left, it was a few hours drive and they didn't want to waste any time waiting around. They called Toni from the car, putting the phone on speaker, to tell her that they were on their way and she informed them that the strike team had already been dispatched.

"Sam and Dean are staying behind to take care of it" Ketch told her. "It'll all be over soon if all goes to plan."

"For the Americans, yes. But back in London-" Toni started.

"Already taken care of" Ketch cut her off. "Mick spoke to James last night and there's a plan in place to eliminate them all."

"Can we definitely trust him?" Toni asked.

"Yes, he has his reasons for helping us. Hayley is only five, but she's his daughter and he knows they'll try and recruit her at some point. He'd do whatever it takes to prevent that." Mick said, reassuring her.

They told her the plan and she agreed to meet them outside when they arrived. They sent a text to the Winchesters, warning them that the strike team were already on their way. When they got to the base, Toni was waiting for them. She'd drugged the guards and switched off the cameras so they could sneak in undetected.

"Are they dead?" Ketch asked.

"No, just unconscious." Toni told him. They grabbed their weapons from the car and Ketch attached a silencer to his favourite gun before shooting the guards in the head.

"We can't afford to leave survivors." He said. "We need to go in through the kitchen. It's the least guarded room of the building."

The three of them entered through the kitchen. As expected, there was nobody there. Ketch started heating up the stove.

"What are you doing? This is no time for breakfast." Toni said, really confused now.

"Just trust me" Ketch told her. "Mick, now." Mick started making as much noise as he could, drawing anyone that was close by directly to them. "Get down." Ketch told them and they hid behind the counter. They were getting closer, so Ketch grabbed a handful of bullets and dropped them onto the hot pan before ducking behind the counter himself.

As people come to check on the noise, the bullets heated up and flew across the room hitting each of them. Some were killed, others wounded so Ketch made sure to shoot them in the head for good measure. Once that was taken care of, the three of them crept around the rest of the base, shooting people as they went. They killed all but a few, who had all cornered them and were firing so many bullets in their direction, they had no choice but to hide behind a wall.

"What do we do now?" Mick asked.

"We could wait for them to run out of bullets and then kill them." Toni suggested.

"I'd rather just get this over with quickly." Ketch responded, pulling a grenade out of his pocket. "You might want to cover your ears" he said before pulling out the pin and throwing it towards the remaining men of letters. There was a loud bang and then silence. The bullets had stopped and the three of them stepped out to assess the damage.

"We did it." Mick said, half surprised that they were still standing.

A single shot echoed through the building as Toni fell to her knees crying out in pain. They'd been so close to escape. The bodies of the Men of Letters lay scattered around them. They didn't know about the one survivor until it was too late.

Ketch told Mick to stay with Toni whilst he searched out the shooter. He followed the guy into the same conference room where Hess was killed. He could still see the stain from her blood. The guy held his gun up, pointing it at Ketch, but he didn't fire. Ketch just smirked at the look of terror in his eyes.

"You know who I am, you know my reputation. Do you really think you can beat me?" He challenged and then shoved the guy into the wall, knocking the gun across the room.

"Usually I would just put a bullet in your brain and end you quickly. But you shot my friend" he continued, pulling out a knife. "So this is going to hurt."

He slashed him with the knife across his chest, and then again across his abdomen. Ketch let go and stepped away and the guy slid down the wall to the floor, screaming out in pain. Ketch just ignored him, calmly cleaning the knife and putting it safely away before crossing the room to get the gun. "Nobody hurts my friends and lives." Ketch said before shooting him in the head and walking away, leaving the body in the exact spot they'd left Hess'.

He then ran back to where he had left Mick and Toni. "How is she?"

"She needs a hospital. Soon."

Ketch knelt down beside her, checking her wound. There was too much blood to see the damage. "Mick, get the car". Mick quickly left to bring the car around. "Just you and me now sweetheart. It's not that bad, you'll be okay" Ketch lied, trying to keep her calm.

"We both know that's not true. I'm not going to make it. You and Mick should just go."

"Stop that" Ketch was trying to stay calm but this worried him. "Mick and I will keep you safe, nothing's going to happen to you. You've lived through worse. We all have. You can survive this too."

The car pulled up and Ketch carried her to the back seat, getting in beside her to put pressure on the wound and slow the bleeding. They drove away, speeding towards the nearest hospital.

"Remember back at Kendricks, that time when they left us in the middle of nowhere?" Toni asked and Ketch just nodded, remembering that time all too well. "We were in the woods miles away from the school. We only had each other, just the three of us. I guess we've come full circle." She was talking to distract herself from the pain.

"As I recall, you spent most of the time complaining because everything was too dirty" Ketch responded and she laughed, wincing slightly in pain.

"I wouldn't have made it through a single night if it wasn't for you two. So, I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I need you to promise me something. Both of you." There were tears in her eyes now. "I need you both to protect Archie if I don't make it. I don't want him to have to suffer like we did. Please, promise me you'll keep him safe."

"Of course," Mick immediately responded from the front seat.

Ketch was quiet for a moment. "Toni, I don't want him to have the life that we did either. And if it comes to it, I will do my best to protect him. But don't you dare think for one second that gives you permission to give up. The kid needs you a lot more than he needs us."

"I'm not giving up. I would give anything to see my son again." She smiled and placed her hand over Ketch's. "Our son. But I needed to know he would be looked after if I couldn't make it back to him. So thank you. Both of you."

They drove for around another ten minutes with nobody saying anything. Then Ketch felt Toni's hand fall from his to her side. He looked at her and he knew.

"Mick. Stop the car."

"What? We're almost there." Mick responded, confused.

"MICK! STOP THE CAR!"

Mick pulled over and turned around to yell at Ketch, but stopped when he saw Toni. Despite their best efforts to save her she'd bled out right in front of them.

Ketch brushed the hair away from her face and closed her eyes. Looking at her now, the only woman that he'd ever known that truly cared for him even after everything they had been through, he felt cold and empty. He'd been around death for as long as he could remember, but he'd never felt grief until now.

"What should we do now? With the body?" Ketch asked.

"I don't know." Mick admitted. The grief was clouding his mind, he couldn't think straight. "For now, we should just got back to the bunker."

Ketch agreed and they turned the car around, heading back to the bunker. When they arrived, Ketch carried Toni's body inside. Mick tried to help but Ketch pushed him away. The bodies of men of letters lay scattered on the floor, some of people they recognised, others they'd never seen before.

"That fight was awesome." Dean announced to Mick as he walked back into the room with Sam after they put the weapons back in the armoury. "We kicked ass. How'd you guys get on?"

"They're dead" was all Mick could say.

"Where's Ketch?" Sam asked him.

Mick looked over at Ketch who was sat at one of the tables in the library, Toni's body carefully placed on top of it. Sam moved to walk over and check on him, but Mick stopped him.

"Just leave him." Mick said. "Give him some time."

The Winchester boys both nodded and went to their separate rooms. Mick stayed behind for another minute before going outside. It had been a really stressful day for both of them, and he needed to get away from her body. That left Ketch alone with her.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered, his voice thick with barely contained emotion. "I should've protected you. All those years we spent fighting each other, you still always mattered to me. At first I was so angry and betrayed, but that all passed shortly after Archie was born. By then, the anger was gone, but I pretended it hadn't. I made you believe I hated you. The person they turned me into, I couldn't be around you anymore. Either of you. But I still tried my best to keep you safe. I stole missions from you so you wouldn't be put in danger. By the time I knew you were being sent here, you were already gone. So I did everything I could to make sure they sent me too. I tried to keep you safe, and I failed you." He grabbed onto her cold hand and sat in silence.

So far Mick had done a good job of keeping it together, for the sake of Ketch, but once he was alone he broke down. Toni was like a sister to him, and just like that she was gone. His thoughts went to Archie. How was he supposed to tell him that his mum was dead? What would happen to him now? His thoughts were cut off when his phone rang.

"Hello?" Mick answered, wiping tears from his face.

"Mick, it's over. The elders are dead." James told him. He paused. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not." Mick took a breath to calm himself. "Toni's dead."

"Oh. I'm sorry." James didn't really know what to say. "Do you want me to do anything? I can talk to Archie for you."

"No, that's alright. I was there when it happened, I should tell him. You've done enough. Thanks anyway."

"Let me know if you change your mind." James said.

Mick thanked him again and ended the call. He really was grateful to James for helping them, and risking everything to do so, but he wasn't really in any condition to talk in that moment. He sat there for a little while longer before he went back inside, and when he did Ketch was still sat with Toni holding her hand.

"Ketch, we need to talk." Mick said. Ketch didn't respond. "This is important, we have to discuss what to do next." Mick sat down next to him and Ketch finally looked at him. "We can't stay here anymore. It's time to go home."

"What difference does it make?" Ketch asked. "It doesn't matter where we go."

"We don't belong here Ketch, and it's safe to return to England. Tonight we will salt and burn her body and tomorrow we will fly back to London and take the remains home. She deserves a funeral, so her son can say goodbye."

"Alright then." Ketch agreed. "Home it is."

"I'm going to pick up an urn. Are you coming?" Mick asked.

"No. I'm not leaving." Ketch insisted.

Mick was gone for a couple of hours. When he returned, he was holding a black and gold urn. Ketch still hadn't moved. Mick put the urn down and went to get Sam and Dean. Ketch carried Toni outside and they salted and burnt her. Despite the issues with Toni and the Winchesters they seemed genuinely sad that she was dead. They stayed the whole time and helped put her ashes into the urn.

The next morning, after brief goodbyes to Sam and Dean and thanking them for everything, Mick and Ketch packed their bags and went straight to the airport. They got on the first plane back to London.

"Ketch, when we get back, you know we'll need to go to Toni's house don't you?" Mick was unsure how Ketch would react to being there again.

"Why would we do that?" Ketch asked.

"Because we promised that we'd look after Archie. Telling him that his mum is dead is our responsibility."

Ketch just nodded. He didn't want to talk about Toni, and he didn't want to think about Archie either. He knew Mick would expect him to take his son, but he wasn't sure he could. He wanted the boy to be safe and happy, but he didn't think he was the right person to give him that. They stayed silent for the rest of the flight and when they landed they went to Mick's flat to get his car before heading to Toni's house.

Being back there was strange for both of them. Ketch couldn't even remember the last time he was at Toni's house. As for Mick, he had stayed friends with Toni over the years so it hadn't been long since he was last there. Now that she was gone, it didn't seem right to be there again.

But there was a young boy inside who was still waiting for his mum to come home. For his sake, they had no choice but to go in there and break the news. They were about to go to the door when Ketch stopped.

"I think I'll just go wait in the car." He announced.

"I don't think so. We agreed we would tell Archie about his mum. You're coming too."

"This is a bad idea. I've never even met the kid and you want me to go in there and tell him that his mother is dead. Until recently, Toni hated me. Who knows what she told him?"

Mick could see Ketch was starting to panic, but he needed to make him understand that Archie was more important here. "So tell me, what's your plan? You hide in the car while I go in alone to break the news? Then what?"

"I was thinking you could take the kid. You would make a better parent for him anyway."

Mick couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're actually serious. No, I won't do it. Ketch, he's your son and he's going to need you. And you promised Toni-"

"That I would keep him safe." Ketch cut him off. "I never said I would be his father."

"Well that's too bad. Because he's going to need one and you are his father whether you like it or not. Don't you get it? This is about him, not you."

"And that's exactly why he should be with someone better than me. After everything I've done, I can't be a parent. I wouldn't know how to be one, mine abandoned me."

"That's why you can't do the same to him. I'm not saying it'll be easy, because it won't. But I will help you when you need it. I made the same promise you did, and you're my friend."

Ketch just nodded. He knew he could count on Mick, but the idea of actually being a dad still terrified him.

Mick knocked on the door and a woman answered. She smiled when she saw Mick, but her expression changed immediately when she spotted Ketch. "Mr. Davies, he is not welcome here."

"Please let us inside. It's important and I promise he won't cause any problems." She accepted that and allowed them to enter. "We need to see Archie, where is he?" Mick asked as she walked with them to the sitting room.

"The young master is reading in his bedroom."

"Could you get him for me please?" She left the room to get him and came back shortly after with the boy.

"Uncle Mick, what are you doing here?" He looked at Ketch and then back to Mick. "Who's that?"

"I'll explain that in a minute, but first I need to tell you something really important." Mick sat down and Archie took a seat next to him. "It's about your mum. She was on the job and something really bad happened. She got hurt, and we tried to help her. But she didn't make it. She died Archie, I'm so sorry."

Archie burst into tears and hugged Mick. From the second Archie had walked into the room, Ketch hadn't moved. He couldn't, it was like he'd frozen to the spot. That was his son in front of him. He looked so much like Toni, except his eyes. He had Ketch's eyes. Seeing his son for the first time and watching him grieve over the loss of Toni, he had an overwhelming surge of emotion.

Mick hugged Archie until he stopped crying, and then Archie asked why Ketch was there. Mick then turned to Ketch. "Do you want to tell him?" Ketch sat down on the other side of Mick and took a deep breath. "I'm here because I- I'm your father." That was even harder to say aloud than he thought it would be. Archie stared at him for a moment.

"But I don't have a daddy."

"He's telling the truth Archie." Mick said.

"Uncle Mick, I don't want him here."

Ketch was expecting that kind of reaction, but it still hurt. He stood up and left, waiting for Mick outside. He knew this was a bad idea. What was he expecting? For the grieving child to welcome him with open arms?

Mick stayed with Archie to try and explain things a little more. "I know this is confusing, but he is your dad. When your mum got pregnant with you, he had no choice but to stay away. But he was by her side when she was dying and he promised to take care of you."

"But Mummy said I didn't have a daddy because he was a bad person." Archie responded.

"He's not a bad person. Your mum was just upset with him for a long time. I promise you can trust him, just try and talk to him. Okay?"

Archie agreed so Mick went to get Ketch. When they came back inside, Ketch sat down next to Archie and Mick went to give them some space to talk. "Is there anything you want to ask me?" Ketch asked.

"Why didn't you come to see me before?"

"I thought you'd be happier without me. If I came here to see you, your mum and I would end up arguing. I didn't want you to have to see that and I knew how much your mum loved you. I thought you'd be better off with just her."

"Are you here to take me away?"

"Only if you want to come and live with me. If you'd rather stay here we can arrange something. I can visit you here and I'd just be a phone call away. But if you wanted you could come live with me. It's your choice."

Archie hugged him and said he wanted to go with him. That overwhelming feeling he'd had before was even more intense now. He had a sudden wave of affection for his son.

"Okay, we should get started on packing your things." The two of them got to work boxing up his belongings. It took a while but eventually it was done and Mick helped carry them to the car. Before they left, Ketch stopped Archie.

"Before we go, why don't you pick something out for you to remember your mum by, something of hers to feel close to her?" He suggested. Archie went to Toni's room to try and find something to bring with him. They always read stories together so he went straight to her books. He found some books that he had never seen before called 'Supernatural'.


	7. Chapter 7

"Daddy have you seen Davey?" Archie asked.

"What? Who is Davey?" Ketch responded from the kitchen where he was making them some lunch.

"My dragon. I can't find him anywhere."

"I don't know Archie. We'll look for him later, okay?"

Archie agreed but once he went back into the lounge he was searching again. He went to the coffee table to lift it up and check underneath, but when he did the top of the table came off. He panicked thinking that he'd broken it until he saw the guns hidden there. He picked one of them up, and it was much heavier than he thought it would be.

He started playing with it, pointing it at things and pretending to fire, making the shooting sounds himself. He was having fun, he'd almost forgotten that he wasn't supposed to have that toy. Or what he thought was a toy, but it was in fact a loaded gun. That was until Ketch came back in carrying their food and caught him.

"What are you doing?!" Ketch yelled, and snatched the gun away from him. "This isn't for you, do you understand me?!"

Archie got upset and ran to his room, and Ketch decided it was best not to follow him until he calmed down a little. He sat down and tried to calm himself down. Archie didn't know he was putting himself in a dangerous situation, so he shouldn't be too harsh with him. He knew that, but it terrified Ketch when he seen him with a gun. He picked up the phone to call Mick, but before he could dial he heard Mick's voice. He was talking to Archie already.

"What happened Archie? You can tell me." Mick said.

"I was just playing. I found toy guns, it was just a game. But daddy got so angry with me." Archie told him.

"Okay." Mick didn't know how much he should tell him. It wasn't his place to tell him about monsters or Ketch's past. "I need to tell you something about your dad. He has real weapons hidden in the house for protection. Archie, that wasn't a toy you were playing with, it was real. That's why your dad was upset, you could have really hurt yourself. He wasn't angry, he was scared that you'd get hurt."

"Oh. I just thought it was a toy" Archie says.

"I know. And your dad knows that too."

Ketch was listening to all of this and suddenly started feeling really guilty. He scared his son and upset him. He should have explained to him how dangerous it was himself, rather than yelling at him and leaving it up to Mick to clean up his mess. He put the phone down, not wanting to listen anymore, and moved the guns to his bedroom so they were not in Archie's reach.

He wanted to find a way to make it up to him, so he went looking for Davey himself. After a bit of searching, he found the toy on one of the dining room chairs.

Grabbing Davey and the lunch he'd made for him, he went to Archie's room. Archie was lying on his bed with his back to him, and Ketch walked over and placed the food on the bedside table and sat down.

"Archie, we need to talk about what happened earlier." Ketch said, and Archie turned to him. He still looked scared so he handed Davey over. That seemed to make him a little more comfortable.

"I'm sorry" Archie said.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, I should be the one apologising. I never told you about the guns because I didn't want to frighten you. They are just there as a precaution, to keep us safe. But now I know that I should have explained this to you sooner. The guns are not to be played with. For your safety, I've moved them. If you do happen to find them again, remember that rule. I'm sorry if I upset you before, I just didn't want you to get hurt." Ketch explained.

"Okay daddy" Archie said and hugged him.

"Good. I left your food on the table, you can eat it in here if you want and play with Davey for a little while." Ketch stood up and left to go and eat his own food. He still felt awful for putting his son in that kind of danger. It was just so ingrained in him, as part of his training to keep guns around at all times. He could still hear Hess' voice in his head. "To be one of us, you must be prepared at all times. A killer like yourselves must not be more than thirty feet from a weapon at any given time. If you do, you are leaving yourself vulnerable. And vulnerability is weakness." He still hated her and everything she stood for, but her training had taught him to survive. It had been a part of his life for so long, he didn't even think about it anymore. But now it was causing the people he cared about to get hurt. Even from the grave she was ruining his life.


	8. Chapter 8

Mick and Ketch sat down, whiskey in hand, and toasted to Toni. The funeral had been long and exhausting for them. She had no living relatives, besides her son, so Mick and Ketch ended up doing everything. Archie was sleeping so the two of them were just having a quiet moment to relax after the stresses of the day.

"So, the men of letters are gone. We're home. We buried Toni. What now?" Mick wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure, I guess we start looking for jobs." Ketch said, already really hating the thought even as he was saying it.

"Nobody in their right minds would hire us, we have no credentials." Mick said. "What if we rebuilt the Men of Letters?"

"What are you talking about?" Ketch asked.

"It's just an idea. We gather up as many former members as we can find and get them to join us. Then we can take over the school. Take over Kendricks, but without all of the cruelty that we had to endure."

"How many drinks have you had?" Ketch responded, only half joking. "No offense Mick, but I'm not really cut out to be a teacher. You, sure. But not me."

"That's why you could teach hunting. You wouldn't be stuck in a classroom doing theory all day, you'll be teaching them to survive and taking them on hunts. Think about it, now that the men of letters are gone, something needs to take its place. Otherwise monsters will roam free and start killing people. We have to teach the next generation to fight monsters, otherwise there will be nobody around to do it and all of our knowledge will go to waste."

Ketch sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. On one condition. We destroy every remnant left behind by that evil woman."

"Agreed," Mick responded. "Now all we need to do is decide who we could ask to help us."

Within the hour they had a list of names. It was everyone that had sided with the angels to help get rid of the old men, with a few people who had left voluntarily over the years. Well, voluntarily is far too generous a word for it. What actually happened was they wanted to leave, so the men of letters made sure they suffered the most agonising torture first, just as a warning to never speak of the men of letters again. They doubted any of those people would be willing to join, but they added their names anyway.

They took a week to think things over and recover after the funeral, and after taking Archie back to school and explaining to his teacher about Toni's death, they made as many phone calls as they could to the people on the list. They asked all of them to join, and explained the changes that would be made. As in, they were getting rid of any methods used by Hess. It was a fresh start for the school. Most agreed to join, though as expected none of the 'voluntary' leavers chose to. In fact, some of them even pretended to not know what they were talking about. They were still so afraid that even the mention of Kendricks they denied any knowledge of it and hung up the phone.

By the time the calls were done, it was lunchtime so they ate together before going to the school. Just being near the building again sent chills down their spines. They stepped inside and went to Hess' old office. As much as they despised being back in that room, they knew that she kept files on possible recruits in her office. They were labelled 'legacies' and 'expendables'. She had enough recruits lined up for both categories for the next five years. They decided to take it all with them back to Ketch's apartment so they didn't have to spend another minute in that office.

They read through the files, and the amount of detail they had for each person was horrific. She'd even included sections for people in the child's life that could be used to manipulate them. They made a quick note of all of the names and contact information, and ignored everything else.

Over the course of the next few days, they finalised the details of who would be doing which jobs once the school reopened. Everything was planned, except what renovations they wanted to do. They'd left that for last because they would need to go back there. Once again, they went to the school and started looking around. They picked out their offices, two empty ones next to each other on the opposite side of the building to Hess'.

They knew exactly what changes to make to the classrooms, the library, the halls, basically the entire building except her office.

"Let's tear it down" Ketch suggested.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Mick asked. Ketch gestured for him to wait and walked away, coming back a minute later with two sledgehammers and safety goggles.

"You can't be serious," Mick said.

"Oh, I'm deadly serious. Think of it as a form of therapy." Ketch put the goggles on and walked in, smashing through the wall to the outside of the building. "Join in Mick, it's feels great." Mick was reluctant at first but soon found he was enjoying it. Most of the day had gone by before they were done, having demolished the entire room. They both sat down on the floor to catch their breath.

"Should we build something else here?" Mick asked.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, some kind of memorial. So many people died because of her. Replacing her office with something for them would be a nice way to honour their memory, don't you think?"

Ketch thought about it for a second before he agreed. Not only would it honour the people who had simply died because she wanted them to, but it would also be a great way for future generations to learn about the school's history.

They were both exhausted so they decided it was time to call it a day and go home. Ketch had driven them there so he dropped Mick off before going to pick Archie up from school.

When they got back home, Ketch made them some food and while they were eating Archie told him all about every detail of his day. It was a Friday, so when he was done Archie asked if the two of them could do something together that weekend.

"What did you have in mind?" Ketch asked him.

"We could watch movies" Archie suggested.

"Okay." Ketch said "what's your favourite film?"

"I like the Narnia films. The books are better, but the films are still really good."

"Narnia it is then." They were just finishing their food, so Ketch cleared the plates from the table before turning back to Archie. "We can start now if you like."

"Yay!" Archie cheered and ran to the TV. "Hurry up daddy," he called to him. Ketch laughed at his enthusiasm and followed him. He found the movies and the two of them watched 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.' When it was finished, Archie turned to his dad with a huge grin on his face. "Did you like it?" He asked.

"It was good. I liked it. Not as much as lord of the rings or the hobbit, but I enjoyed it."

"I've never seen those" Archie said.

"Do you want to watch one?" Ketch asked. Archie said yes, so he made some popcorn and put on 'an unexpected journey.' Ketch hadn't realised how late it was and forgot how long those movies were until he noticed about halfway through that Archie had fallen asleep. He switched off the TV and carried Archie up to bed, tucking him in. Watching him in that moment, he realised just how much he loved Archie. For the first time, he felt like he wasn't just his father biologically. He was his dad, and he was so proud that Archie was his son.


	9. Chapter 9

Ketch woke up to see Archie stood next to his bed. He checked the clock, it was 3:14am. "Archie, it's late. Why are you out of bed?" His eyes were starting to adjust to the dark room, and he saw the tear stains on Archie's cheeks and the redness of his eyes. Ketch was immediately wide awake. "Why are you crying? What happened?" He asked, looking for signs of injury.

"I had a bad dream." Archie told him.

Ketch got out of bed and hugged his son. "Alright, come on. We'll get you back to bed and you can tell me all about it." He walked with Archie back to his room and tucked him in.

"What's got you so upset?"

"I was dreaming about mummy." Archie said.

"Why was that a bad dream? Do you miss her?"

Archie nodded. "I feel like I'm forgetting her." He said sadly.

"You won't forget her. She's your mum, she's part of you. Here, lie down and I'll tell you a very special bedtime story." Archie lay back and got comfortable. "Once upon a time, there were three young rogues names Mick, Arthur and Toni. They were best friends, and they were inseparable. When they left school, they decided to do something special to celebrate the occasion. The three rogues had too many grown up drinks, and they thought it would be a good idea to get tattoos. They wanted it to be extra special, so they chose the tattoos for each other. Arthur chose for Mick, who had the name of his girlfriend at the time on his shoulder. Toni chose for Arthur, who ended up getting a rainbow dash tattoo on his tailbone" he said, lifting his shirt slightly to show him the tattoo. "And Mick made Toni get ducks on her side because she was scared of them."

"Is that why mummy wouldn't let me go and feed the ducks at the park?" Archie asked.

"Yes. She was always scared of them. I don't know why."

Archie started giggling. "Mummy made you get my little pony"

"She did. She could always make people do anything she asked them to." He said with a smile. "We didn't always get along. There were a few years that we didn't talk, but she was always one of the most important people in my life."

"What else did you and mummy used to do?" Archie asked him.

"We um... did lots of things that you are not old enough to know about yet." He said, suddenly feeling awkward. "The two of us, and uncle Mick, used to spend a lot of time together when we were at school. We'd study together and play pranks on each other. We had a lot of fun. Then after we left school, I was dating your mum. So the two of us spent a lot of time together."

"What pranks did you used to do?" Archie asked.

Ketch chuckled. "I'm not telling you, it would just give you ideas. But the three of us lived at the school, because none of us had the option to go home, so we would get bored easily. We used pranks to keep us entertained." He paused for a minute before continuing. "I want you to come to me whenever you feel like you're forgetting her. I'll tell you stories and remind you of her as much as I can, there's no need to worry. Try and get some sleep. Do you want me to stay with you until you're asleep?" He asked.

"Yes please." Archie said, and true to his word Ketch stayed with him. He looked so peaceful, Ketch couldn't bring himself to leave yet. Before he knew it, the sun was coming up and birds were chirping.


	10. Chapter 10

Ketch took a deep breath before dialling the phone. It went straight to voicemail. "Mick, call me when you get this message. l need help with something important." He said and hung up. Ketch was pacing the room when Archie walked in.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. It can wait until uncle Mick gets here." Ketch responded.

"Why do we have to wait for uncle Mick?"

Ketch sat down and put his head in his hands. "Alright, sit down. We need to talk." He remembered having this conversation with his parents. Ketch was told he would be part of the men of letters whether he liked it or not. He hated them even more for that, and he didn't want Archie to hate him.

Archie sat down next to his dad, worried that he had upset Ketch in some way. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked.

"No, of course not. Archie, how much did your mum tell you about what we do for work?" Ketch asked, finally looking at him.

"Just that it's dangerous." Archie answered.

"It's less than a week before you start Kendricks, it's time you know the truth." He paused for a second trying to think of how to explain this without scaring him. "From a young age, your mum, uncle Mick and I were taught to fight monsters."

"But monsters aren't real." Archie said.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this but they are real, and someone has to be around to kill them so they can't hurt people. That's what we do, and that's what Kendricks trained us for." Ketch explained.

"Was mummy killed by a monster?" Archie asked, trying to process this information.

"No, unfortunately some people are worse that the monsters." Ketch told him. "We were raised by a very cruel woman at that school, and she made people do terrible things for her. Your mum's death was part of that, but that woman is gone now. You will never have to meet her."

"Is that what I'll be taught at Kendricks?" Archie asked.

"You'll be taught to fight monsters, but we will make sure you are safe at all times. I'll never let anything bad happen to you." Ketch told him. "If you'd rather stay at your other school you can." He didn't want to take his options away from him like Ketch's parents had done.

"I still want to go to Kendricks. I want to learn to save people." Archie said.

Ketch's phone rang. "You got my message then" He said when he answered.

"What's wrong? Are you and Archie alright?" Mick asked.

"Yes, don't worry we're fine." He said. "I just needed to tell Archie about Kendricks and thought it would be easier to discuss it if you were here. But it's done now."

"Sorry I wasn't there to help. How did he take it?" Mick said.

"Really well actually." Ketch told him. He couldn't decide how he felt about Archie's reaction to everything. Of course he didn't want his son to be upset by it, but it worried him that he was going to grow up in a world with monsters. He just hoped that he could make good on his promise to keep him safe.

"Do you still want me to come over?" Mick asked.

"I don't see why not" Ketch said. "It's nearly Archie's bedtime anyway so we can have a drink if you want."

"Great, I'll be there in ten." Mick responded before hanging up. When he arrived, Archie ran to him.

"Uncle Mick, guess what? I'm going to be a hero and save people when I grow up" he told him excitedly.

"That's great Archie" Mick said with a smile. The three of them sat and watched TV for a while, because Archie was too excited to sleep. That was until his exhaustion caught up to him and he fell asleep on the sofa between them. Ketch carried him to bed and tucked him in before going back to Mick.

"Are you going to tell me how you really feel about this?" Mick questioned as soon as Ketch sat down.

"I'm not sure. I don't know what reaction I was expecting, but it wasn't this. He's excited, and that's great. But at the same time, he's about to be recruited into the very organisation we tried to protect him from. Toni died trying to stop this from happening. I don't know how I should feel right now." Ketch answered.

"It's not the same organisation, we're improving it." Mick reasoned.

"Are we? There are kids in his class who are legacies, from the same bloodline as many of the men of letters that we killed. How am I supposed to protect him from that?"

"It'll be alright mate. The only people alive that know what happened in that fight is us, and we don't have to tell him anything. Archie knows as much as he needs to" Mick told him. "I'll get us some drinks and you, just stop worrying so much."

The two of them had a few more drinks together before they decided to call it a night. Mick ended up sleeping on the sofa because they decided he'd had too much alcohol to safely drive home, and Ketch headed off to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

“And through here is where we keep the bodies.” Doctor Simmons explained to the children, taking them through to the main part of the morgue. “We don’t have much in here at the moment, just a guy they pulled out of the Thames and a girl who was ripped apart by some kind of dog.”

Mick wasn’t really listening to him as he looked around the morgue. They already knew that the girl had been attacked by a hellhound but that was up to the children to try and work it out for themselves. He was vaguely aware of the children firing questions at the Doctor and Ketch rifling through some paperwork. He wasn’t sure how his friend had charmed their way in there but decided that in reality he didn’t want to know. Some things were better left unsaid and not thought about.

“Doctor Simmons, why are there children in the morgue?” The voice belonged to a woman who had suddenly appeared in the doorway. She had dark hair, somewhere between black and brown, and eyes the colour of melted chocolate. Her arms were folded over her chest, crumpling her crisp white shirt and skewing her checked tie. Despite her lack of hat and service issue blazer, she was obviously a police officer.

“It’s a school trip.” He explained, trying his best to stand his ground but taking a step back under her gaze nonetheless.

“We are in the middle of an investigation and you decided to allow children in here?”

“But Officer Cowley I-“

“No! I don’t want to hear it!” She interrupted, causing the poor man to choke down any other arguments he may have had. Ketch and Mick shared a look across the room. George Cowley had worked for the British Secret Services and alongside his two top operatives, Bodie and Doyle, would often help the Men of Letters with getting any permissions or passes they needed for any given case.

“Calm down Abby, you’ll scare the children.” A voice from behind ‘Abby’, as they now knew her name to be, had the girl relaxing slightly. All the tension draining from her shoulders as a red-haired girl entered the room.

“Why are the children here?” Mick was surprised that the question was directed towards him, whenever girls were involved their attention was usually on Ketch. But the redhead’s green eyes were fixed firmly in his direction.

“We were doing a lesson on Forensic Science so were given permission to take the children to some of the different departments.” Mick explained, it wasn’t that much of a lie. He was just bending the truth slightly.

“Well I’m afraid we have important work to be doing so I’ll have to ask you and your class to leave.” The newcomer explained, moving closer to him. “But if you ever want me to make it up to you, here’s my number.” She pulled out her police jotter and wrote down the number for her personal mobile, as well as the home phone for the flat she and Abby shared.

“Alright, that sounds fair. Come on everyone!” He called out, ushering all the children out and eventually encouraging Ketch to come with him. Ketch had been trying and failing to catch Abby’s eye but she was all but forgotten as they left the morgue.

“Well done mate, only you would pick up a girl at a mortuary.” Mick just rolled his eyes and climbed into the minibus, doing a quick headcount to make sure they hadn’t lost any of the children.

Ketch went to ask Mick if he wanted to go out for lunch, but stopped when he saw him. Mick was sat at his desk grinning to himself and staring at his phone. Mick had been doing this every spare moment for several days now. Ketch was sure he knew what was going on already, but he wanted to make sure.

_ Ping _ ! Mick's phone went off again and he jumped slightly before checking it.

"Hey Mick, what are you doing?" Ketch asked and Mick nearly fell of his chair he was so startled.

"What? I.. nothing. I'm not doing anything." Mick rambled and Ketch laughed.

"For a Man of Letters, you are a terrible liar. It's your girlfriend, isn't it?" He said pointing to the phone.

"She's not my girlfriend. We just talk sometimes, I haven't even seen her since that day at the morgue."

Ketch grinned and snatched the phone. He read all of the texts while Mick attempted to get it back and failed. "Aww that's cute." Ketch said mocking him a little. "Alright, as your friend I'm intervening."

"What? No, don't do that. Ketch please." Mick begged.

"You are sat here like a teenage girl with a crush. I'm helping you. And It's sent." He said as he typed. He handed the phone back to Mick, who quickly checked what Ketch had sent.

It read 'I want to see you. Let's meet tonight for dinner. My treat.' Mick couldn't decide what to think. He just stared at his phone not sure what to do now.

_ Ping _ ! 'I'd like that. Tell me when and where and I'll be there xx'. 

"Well? What did she say?" Ketch asked.

"I have a date." Mick told him.

"Oh, well you're welcome." Ketch said and walked away to get food for himself. He didn't think Mick would join him now.

Mick didn’t even notice when Ketch left as he was already trying to find somewhere to take Hope.

Eventually he found a nice Italian place, made a reservation and took off early to get ready.

He got to the restaurant about 15 minutes early and sat in the bar whilst he waited for Hope to arrive. He must have checked his watch twenty times in the 5 minutes before she turned up. 

Her hair was half up and fastened in place with a white crochet flower and her off the shoulder, yellow dress and matching pumps made her look like summer personified. She nervously fiddled with her clutch bag as Mick stood up to greet her.

“You look beautiful.” He told her honestly and she smiled at him.

“I don’t know why I feel so nervous, it’s not like we’re complete strangers or anything.”

“The way I see it, being nervous is a good thing. It means you care about what happens and want it to go well.” Mick told her with a reassuring smile. He felt just as nervous as she did, but it wouldn’t help to tell her that.

“Excuse me sir, your table is ready.” The waiter led them over to a corner table. It was quiet and tucked away, the perfect table for a first date. Mick pulled out Hope’s chair for her before sitting opposite. 

Hope had just picked up a menu when her phone binged inside her bag. Not two seconds later Mick’s phone did the same. That set the tone for the rest of the evening. Just as one would try and speak, the other’s phone would go off. 

“I’m just going to turn that off.” Hope decided after about 10 minutes. “Sorry, Abby’s worried about me. I’ve not been on a date for a while.” Hope explained. 

“It’s fine. Ketch is just the same. Is Abby the one from the morgue?” Mick asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, we’ve known each other since we were kids. Now we share a flat. What about you and Ketch?”

“Yeah, same. We don’t live together but we’ve known each other since we were 11.”

“Tell you what, if they don’t stop fussing, maybe we should bring them along next time. Double date.” Hope suggested, hiding her smile behind her glass.

“I’m liking the sound of that next time.” From then the conversation flowed much more easily as they shared stories about each other and their friends growing up, with Mick’s being a heavily edited version to leave out any mention of ghouls and ghosts and monsters. Despite that, they had fun and Mick found himself greatly looking forward to the next time they went out together.

Once they’d finished eating, Mick escorted Hope to her car and gave her a kiss goodnight with a promise they would arrange the double date for that weekend. Neither of them willing to wait any longer.

 


	12. Chapter 12

"Archie, I have to go somewhere with uncle Mick tonight, so I found a babysitter for you. Promise me you'll behave while I'm gone" Ketch said.

"I will. Where are you going?" Archie asked.

"Just out." Ketch didn't want to tell Archie yet. After all, it was just a first date. It could go badly. There was a knock on the door and Ketch answered. It was the babysitter. He let her inside. "Archie, this is Jillian. She'll be watching you until I get back." He said.

Archie took one look at her, ran into his room and slammed the door behind him. "Sorry, he's not usually like this. I'll go and check on him." He went to Archie's room and knocked.

"Can I come in?"

"Is she with you?" Archie asked.

"No, it's just me." Archie let him in and Ketch closed the door behind him so they could speak in private. "You said you would behave, but that was rude. What was that about?"

"I don't like her. She can't be trusted." Archie said.

"Now you are just being silly. You've only just met her, how do you know she can't be trusted?" Ketch questioned.

"I just know." Archie insisted.

"It's only for a couple of hours. You'll be fine. You don't even have to talk to her if you don't want to. There's plenty of books or movies to keep you entertained while I'm gone. She's only here because you're too young to be left alone." He reasoned.

"Why can't Anna come and watch me instead? She used to look after me when Mummy went away."

"I asked her first, but she couldn't. She already had plans." He lied to spare Archie's feelings. Anna refused because she didn't want to work for Ketch. She still had a lot of resentment towards him, but he didn't want to upset Archie with the knowledge that he won't see her again. "If you really don't like her, I can stay."

"No, you should go." Archie said. He really didn't like her but he didn't want his dad to miss out on spending time with his friend. There was another knock at the door. "That will be Uncle Mick. Do you want to come and see him before we go?"

"Okay." The two of them went to the door and as soon as the door was open, Archie hugged Mick.

"Hey Archie, is everything alright?" He asked, a little concerned.

"Everything's fine. He just wanted to see you before we go." Ketch told him. Archie let go and Mick walked in. Ketch crouched down to quietly talk to Archie. "Remember what I said. You'll be okay, and you can call me if you need me. But only for emergencies, okay?" Archie gave his dad a hug before going to the lounge. Ketch pulled Jillian to one side and went over everything with her about how to contact him. Then he turned to Mick.

"Alright, let's go." He said.

"Please tell me you're not wearing that." Mick said, stopping him.

"What do you mean?" Ketch asked, confused.

"This is a first date, showing up in a suit will make her think you're trying too hard." 

"We are going to be late if I change now" Ketch pointed out.

"There's no need to change. Just get rid of the jacket and tie. And open collar is better." Ketch did as Mick suggested. "Really? You listen to me now, but not when I say it's too much for school?"

"You know more about dating than me. So I'm trusting your judgement. Just this once." Mick rolled his eyes and the two of them shouted a quick goodbye to Archie before leaving. They got in Mick's car and drove away. Mick and Hope had planned the whole thing together so Ketch didn't know anything about it.

"Are you going to tell me anything about where we're going?" Ketch asked him.

"Bowling and then dinner," Mick responded.

"Okay, just do me a favour and don't tell Archie that's what we were doing. He really wants to go bowling and would be upset with me if he knew I went without him."

"Your secret's safe with me." Mick said. "Speaking of, are you going to tell her about Archie?"

"No. It's a first date, she doesn't need to know about him now."

The bowling alley wasn't too far away, so they got there early and the girls were already there. When she spotted him, Hope ran to Mick and embraced him. Abby followed her and they introduced her and Ketch. They'd technically met before, but had never really been introduced.

The four of them paid at the counter and got their lane. Other than Ketch muttering under his breath about having to wear rental shoes, the whole thing was quick and simple. They thought it would be more fun to do Mick and Hope versus Abby and Ketch. They just needed to come up with team names.

"They should be the A team" Hope suggested, pointing to Abby and Ketch. "Get it? Abby and Arthur."

"Your name's Arthur? I thought it was Ketch." Abby said, a little confused.

"It is. My name's Arthur Ketch, but everybody calls me Ketch." He explained.

They had typed in 'the A team'. Now they just needed a name for Mick and Hope. 

"What about beauty and the beast?" Ketch joked.

"Ketch, how dare you. Hope is not a beast." Mick said and Hope playfully slapped him. He pretended to be hurt. "That name's too long anyway. Couldn't use it if we wanted to."

"So just use your initials" Abby suggested. They typed in 'H+M'.

"When was the last time you played this game? Just so I know what our chances are of winning." Abby asked.

"Honestly? Never. But I'm a fast learner." Ketch told her.

Mick was first, and got a strike. Ketch was up next and got 8 pins, with the two remaining split on opposite sides of the lane. Mick was laughing victoriously behind him. He managed to knock down one of them. Hope was next with a spare and then Abby got a strike. Ketch was the only one who hadn't managed to knock down all of the pins and he couldn't believe he was losing to Mick. The same thing happened the next round, Ketch was the only one who had pins still standing. On the third go, Mick missed a few, evening the scores out a little.

When Ketch got up for his turn, he thought to himself that he couldn't let Mick win. He'd never hear the end of it. So he focused and told himself, the bowling ball was a weapon, the pins were his target his mission was to take them down. He bowled and got a strike. After that, Mick had a few bad rounds, the girls scores remained fairly consistent and Ketch got strike after strike. The game was over before they knew it and Abby and Ketch had won.

"We did it!" Abby said excitedly and hugged Ketch. He froze, not expecting that reaction, but after a second he hugged her back. Mick and Hope grinned at each other, they didn't care that they'd lost the game and they were just pleased their matchmaking was going well.

"How did you do that? I've never seen anyone get that many strikes in a row before." She said.

"Oh, beginner's luck I guess. Plus, I'm pretty good at target practice." Ketch told her.

"Is that the product of a misspent youth?" Abby joked.

"Yeah, you could say that." Ketch responded, trying not to let on how true that was.

"So, you want to play another game?" Hope asked.

"We should go straight for some food." Mick told her. "We can't stay too late because Ketch has to get back for the babysitter." Mick froze for a second, suddenly realising what he'd just said. He looked over at Ketch who was glaring at him. "Sorry mate. That just slipped out."

"Let's get some food." Hope said changing the subject to break the tension. "We'll order, you two find us a table," she said before rushing off with Mick to get their shoes back and then order some food. Abby and Ketch went to get their shoes back too, much to Ketch's relief, and they sat down at a nearby empty table. 

"So, you have kids?" Abby asked.

"Just one, my son. I wasn't keeping him a secret or anything, I just wanted to make sure this was going to work out before I mentioned him." He explained.

"I understand that." She said with a smile.

"It doesn't bother you then? That I'm a single dad?" He questioned. He'd been sure that she would reject him as soon as she found out.

"Of course not," she said, as though that was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "I love kids."

Mick and Hope returned with trays full of food. Ketch pulled a disgusted face and the others laughed at him.

"That looks revolting," he commented.

"Sorry for my friend, he's a bit of a food snob" Mick said teasingly.

"I am not." Ketch said defensively.

"Prove it" Abby challenged. "Take a big bite out of one of those hotdogs. Then we will stop calling you a food snob." He did the dare. He might've cringed a little, but he managed it. The other three ate while Ketch just pushed the rest of his away.

"Do you mind if I ask about your son?" Abby asked. "Or would you rather I didn't?"

"No, it's fine. What do you want to know?"

"Well, for starters, what's his name?" She asked.

"It's Archie. Well, Archibald, but we all call him Archie." He answered.

"Another 'A' name, how perfect is this?" Hope said grinning.

"How old is he?" Abby continued.

"He's 9. He's really a great kid, I think you'd like him." He said.

"I'm sure I would. And are you and his mother divorced? Separated?" She asked. Ketch froze.

"Um... Abby-" Mick started.

"It's alright Mick" Ketch interrupted. "Toni and I were never married and we hadn't been together for a long time, but she died. That's when I got custody of Archie." Ketch explained to her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I never would have said anything if I'd known. I didn't mean to upset you." She said, feeling terrible for asking.

"It's okay. You didn't know and like I said we hadn't been together for a long time." He assured her.

"Still," she said reaching over to grab his hand. "I'm sorry."

They quickly changed the subject and chatted for a little while longer before they decided to call it a night. The guys walked the girls to their car.

"Tonight was fun. To be honest, I was dreading this. But I'm glad I came." Ketch said. "It was a pleasure to get to spend time with you Abby."

"I had fun tonight too, Arthur." She responded.

"I told you, everybody calls me Ketch" he said.

"And that's why I will call you Arthur." She kissed him lightly on the cheek before getting into the car, Hope following a second later. The guys waved to them as they drove off.

"So, what do you think?" Mick asked him.

"I think that woman will be the death of me." Ketch responded.

Mick laughed. "Let's go." He said and they got in the car and drove away.

"I have to ask, are you ever going to let Abby and Archie meet each other?" Mick asked as soon as they'd pulled out of the car park in front of the bowling alley.

"If it works out between Abby and myself then of course I will, but I think it's best if I wait a while to make sure." Ketch answered.

"Right, of course." Mick said. "Why is that again?"

"We've only been on one date. Okay, it went well, but that doesn't mean she's going to be a permanent part of my life. But Archie will be, he's my son. I don't want to risk him getting attached to her and then get hurt if it doesn't last." Ketch explained.

"Then how many dates will it take before they can meet?" Mick asked him.

"Five. Then I tell Archie."

"Are you sure this is about him?" Mick questioned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ketch demanded.

"I'm just saying, maybe you like her and that scares you" Mick said. He could practically feel Ketch glaring at him. "I'm not trying to piss you off, but are you sure you're not delaying this because you want this to fail? That way you don't have someone else in your life that you care about and can't bear to lose." He continued despite Ketch getting more uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Please stop talking." Ketch said, staring out the window trying to ignore him.

"Things are different now. You don't have to worry that something’s going to take the people you care about away from you anymore." Mick said to him.

Ketch sighed. "I know, but we still fight monsters. We still have to lie about who we really are and what we do. There's nothing wrong with being cautious."

"Being cautious is fine, but if you like her as much as I think you do, don't push her away. It's all I ask." Mick reasoned.

"I won't." Ketch said. "Can we talk about something else now?" Mick agreed to drop it and they talked about work until they arrived at Ketch's apartment. Mick dropped him off, said goodbye and drove away, and Ketch went inside.

 


	13. Chapter 13

“What are you wearing?” Mick asked as Ketch walked into the office on Monday morning.

Ketch looked down at his outfit. He was wearing black trousers, black shoes, a grey shirt, and a striped tie. “A shirt and tie. Is that a problem?”

“It’s not a problem, but why? I’ve been asking you to stop wearing suits to work for two months.”

“Well Abby said I should probably stop because it might seem a bit strange and suggested I wear something more casual.” Ketch shrugged as if it was the most normal thing in the world to change his entire wardrobe for a girl after a total of two dates.

Mick couldn’t decide if he wanted to be annoyed or kiss her. Because whilst he had been working exactly that issue for months, at the same time it did annoy him a little that it had been someone Ketch had known for all of a couple of weeks that convinced him and not his best friend since age 13.

Mick was always teasing Ketch about his suits, constantly trying to make him wear something different. As though he only did it as a fashion statement. Ketch laughed along with Mick's jests, but only he knew the real reason behind it.

Much like most other things, it went back to his training, which was a little different to everyone else's. When bringing about a new elite team of killers, fight training is not the only thing they taught. Staying undetected was a large part of it too.

For the most part, Hess didn't involve herself personally with training, but for Ketch she took a special interest. He had talent, and with the proper training he could be the most ruthless of them all. Mostly, he was an obedient student. But then, there were times that he disappointed her and those memories haunted him.

He remembered the beatings he would receive from the other trainee killers on her orders, as she stood there and watched chastising him. "If you present yourself as a gentleman, Mr. Ketch, people won't question you. They won't see the killer that you really are. But should you insist on dressing as a commoner, people will treat you as such. You represent this organisation, and I will not let you bring us down. You will do well to remember my warnings, I won't be so lenient next time." She left, and the others followed, leaving Ketch bloody and broken.

From that day on, he always wore a suit whenever he wasn't hunting. It was for his own safety. Despite the fact that Hess was dead, it was still so ingrained into who he is. 

She had managed to convince him that if he looked and acted a certain way, presenting a false image of himself to the world, and was careful about not leaving evidence, he would be untouchable for his crimes. It created an illusion about him, that for a long time even he believed, that he was superior to all others.

He'd never tell anyone this of course, not even Mick. Nobody could understand how something seemingly insignificant can fill him with dread. He barely understood it himself. That's why deciding to wear something different, after Abby asked him to, was a huge thing for him. That was the first day in a long time that he wore something different, outside of when he was hunting. Or at least had done so willingly. He wasn't comfortable doing it, but he told himself Hess was gone, he wouldn't try to live up to her expectations anymore.

It had only been a couple of days since she’d last seen Ketch but it was still a couple of days longer than she liked. Despite knowing that he probably wouldn’t be able to, Abby texted Ketch to ask if he wanted to go shopping with her. She needed to go anyway but she would have loved the company. Hope was round her dad’s and Abby just wasn’t in the mood for family, she’d much rather see her boyfriend. Boyfriend. She liked how that sounded. It was probably a little early to be thinking about labelling what was going on between the two of them but she couldn’t help herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a text from Ketch saying he’d love to meet her since Archie was with Mick. She told him where she’d be and went to sit on the water fountain. It was a modern waterfall style instalment with LED lights to turn the water different colours as it cascaded into the pool. She had her back to it so didn’t see the colours changing from blue through to green and by the time Ketch arrived to red. Abby saw him freeze at the sight of her. Someone walked into the back of him but he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were glued on the fountain and Abby could tell something was wrong. She got up and was by his side almost instantly. “Arthur?” She took both his hands in hers. “You with me?” She could see his breathing had quickened and realised he was having a panic attack. She stayed with him and soothed him until he was finally able to snap himself out of it. “You ok now?”

“Yes. I think so. Thank you.”

“Come on, let’s go sit down somewhere.” She suggested, noticing how unsteady he seemed all of a sudden. “Do you want to talk about it? Or do you need me to call Mick? You two seem pretty close.”

Ketch thought about his options for a moment. He couldn’t tell Abby about what just happened. About how seeing the red water reminded him of the recurring nightmare where he drowns in the blood of everyone he’s killed. He could talk to Mick about it but Abby was such a calming presence that he didn’t feel the immediate need to. He would tell Mick, but later. Right now spending time with Abby was far more important. “I’m fine. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“I’m fine, it’s you I’m worried about.” Abby explained gently.

“I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go shopping.” Abby looked unconvinced but followed his lead. She needed to finish present shopping for her family before she went home for Christmas anyway. She did her shopping and before they left, they already had another date planned.

Abby and Hope didn’t think anything of it when the show overran. Double date night at the theatre had been Ketch’s idea since they weren’t going to be seeing each other for a month. It didn’t occur to the girls how much of a bad idea the late night might have been. Particularly when they both forgot to set their alarms.

Abby woke up first and a glance at the clock had her cursing under her breath. Their plane had been at 07:00 and it was now 07:02. She went to wake Hope and bundled her friend into the car. They were supposed to be flying to visit Abby’s father up in Scotland and having missed the last flight would now have to drive. 

It was about half an hour into their journey that their phones started blowing up. Everyone they knew was trying to contact them. Abby pulled over and picked up her phone to answer a call from her father. Whilst Hope was on the phone to Mick, Abby managed to get rid of her dad by reassuring him that she was fine but with no idea what the sudden concern was.

She saw there were a dozen missed calls from Ketch. “Arthur? What’s wrong?”

She could hear him letting out a breath he was holding. “Thank goodness. I thought you were dead.”

That made Abby falter. “What? Why?”

“It’s on the news. Your plane went down, 40 minutes into the flight.”

“Sounds like the demon in Phantom Traveller.” Abby muttered more to herself than to him.

“The what? In what?”

“The Supernatural books.” It hadn’t quite hit her yet that they could have just died but the realisation was just beginning to slowly dawn. “We could have died… If we hadn’t been on that date last night, we wouldn’t have slept through our alarms… we would have died…”

Ketch and Mick stayed on the phone to their respective girlfriends until they were calm enough to continue their journey, helping them to factor in the road closures from the crash.

 


	14. Chapter 14

There was a loud noise waking Archie. He got out of bed, still sleepy, and followed the noise thinking that his dad must be back home. When he saw a stranger in the lounge going through all of their things, he hid behind the wall to make sure he wasn't seen.

He ran to his dad's room and picked up the phone dialling 999. Scared and shaking, he hid in the wardrobe.

"999, what's the nature of your emergency?" The operator asked.

"Hello? Someone broke in."

"Do you know your address?" She asked.

"No, I don't." There was a noise just on the other side of the door. The burglar had moved to Ketch's room. "He's right outside the door, please help me" Archie whispered.

"Someone's on the way. We found you and the police are coming. Stay on the phone until they get there okay?"

He agreed, trying to stay as quiet as possible. He was so scared, he could hear his own heartbeat. The footsteps got quieter as the guy moved to another room.

The operator asked him a few questions just to keep him calm and take his mind off the fact that someone was there. A few minutes later, Archie heard a female voice in the apartment, but he couldn't tell what she was saying.

"There's someone else here now," he told the woman on the phone.

"Hello? Police." 

"It's okay Archie, the police are there now." The operator said. Archie hung up the phone and slowly stepped out of the wardrobe just as a Police Officer walked into the room.

"Hi, did you call 999?" He nodded. "You are very brave for doing that. We arrested him, it's okay now." Archie still looked scared. "My name is Hope, what's yours?"

"Archie."

"Where are your parents Archie?"

"Daddy had to go to work." He told her.

"And your mummy?"

"Mummy died." Archie said, trying not to get upset.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Would you like me to stay with you until your daddy gets home?"

He nodded. "But what about the bad man? Don't you have to take him away?"

"My partner can take him. I'll stay here and keep you company."

"Okay," he said, relieved that he wouldn't be left alone.

"You wait here and I'll come and get you when he's gone." She left and came back a minute later. "You can come out now Archie, it's alright."

They went into the lounge and sat down. "Are you thirsty? Hungry?" She asked. Archie shook his head. "What do you like to do? Maybe we could find something to do together."

He told her he likes to read, so together they chose a book and she read to him. Soon afterwards, Abby came back to the house. Archie jumped when he heard someone else there, but Hope reassured him that it was alright.

"Archie, this is Abby. She works with me."

"Hi Archie, nice to meet you" Abby said with a smile.

"Why don't you show us around?" Hope asked. "Just until your daddy gets back?" She wanted to give him something to do, and at the same time they needed to check the whole place and make sure there was nothing dangerous left behind by the man who broke in.

Archie showed them around the apartment but when he got to the spare room he hesitated. "Daddy doesn't like people being in here. But you are police, so I guess it's okay." He let them in and they didn't know what to say when they saw what was inside.

So many canvases filled the room with the most beautiful paintings. "Wow. Where did you get these?" Abby asked.

"Daddy painted them," he told her proudly.

Mick and Ketch had finished their hunt and were headed back to Ketch's place for a celebratory drink. When they saw the police car outside, the two of them ran into the building.

"Archie!" Ketch shouted as soon as he got inside. Archie ran to him and hugged him. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"A bad man broke in, but the nice police ladies arrested him." Archie told him.

"What nice police ladies?" Mick asked, just as Abby and Hope walked in.

"That's Hope and that's-"

"Abby" Ketch finished for him.

"You know them?" Archie asked, confused.

"I- yes, uncle Mick and I have met them before." Something occurred to him then, after he had gotten over the initial shock. "Archie, where is the babysitter?"

"I don't know. She was here when I went to bed, but she was gone when I woke up."

"Okay." Ketch said trying to suppress the anger that his son had been left alone. "Why don't you go back to bed?"

Archie did as he was told and the four adults were left to talk.

"So, that's your son. He's a great kid." Abby said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Yes, he is."

"Archie said you were working, but I thought you were teachers, and it’s the middle of the night. What were you doing really?" Hope asked.

"We were working on a research paper. We don't have a lot of time to get much done during the school day." Ketch lied.

They went over a few details about what happened, Ketch told them as much as he could about Jillian, and they filed a report. The girls then said goodnight and left.

"I know we said we'd have a drink, but I should go too." Mick said. "Archie needs you right now." Ketch showed him out and locked everything before checking on his son. He was still awake and clinging tightly to Davey the dragon. Ketch sat down next to him on the bed.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Archie shook his head. "I'm home now and I'm not going anywhere. You're safe."

"I know, but I'm scared. What happens next time you go away? What if you got hurt like mummy did?"

Ketch hugged him. "Nothing’s going to happen to me, alright? I know what I'm doing and I'm careful. I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you tonight, next time I have to leave I will make sure you are with someone that will keep you safe."

"Promise you'll always come back."

"I promise." Ketch tucked him in and stood up to leave "try and get some sleep."

"Daddy?" Ketch stopped. "How do you know those police ladies?"

"Archie, sometimes you ask too many questions. We'll talk about this in the morning, alright? Goodnight."

He went to his own room, the exhaustion of the hunt had finally caught up to him now the adrenaline was wearing off. He lay down and was asleep in seconds.

The next morning when he woke, he saw that Archie had climbed into his bed during the night, bringing Davey with him. He smiled to himself and carefully got out of bed, so as not to wake Archie.

He didn't even make it to the door before Archie woke up. Archie followed his dad to the kitchen, and Ketch made them some breakfast.

"Daddy, you said we would talk about the police ladies this morning." Archie reminded him.

"I did. Alright, what do you want to know?" He asked, dreading the conversation already.

"How did you meet them?"

"At work. Uncle Mick and I were at the hospital for a case, and they were investigating."

"Is that the only time you have met them?"

"No." He was hoping he wouldn't have to do this yet, but it seemed he didn't have much choice but to tell him now. "I have been dating Abby. And uncle Mick is dating Hope."

 


	15. Chapter 15

“Archie? Can we talk?” Archie didn’t even bother to look up from his book as Abby stood in the doorway. “I want to talk to you about your dad and I.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I thought you were nice but now you’re dating Daddy and you’re going to try and replace Mummy!”

“I promise I won’t try to replace your mum. I just want to be friends. Is that OK? Can we be friends?” Archie looked at her, a puzzled look on his face.

“How can we be friends? We don’t have anything in common.” Archie asked. He was intrigued now and wanted to know what she was thinking.

“We have your dad in common.” She moved into the room and had a look at the bookcase against his wall. “Do you read these?” She asked, running her fingers along the spines of the collection of supernatural books.

“Yeah, I’ve got Bugs to read next.”

“Don’t bother with Bugs, it was awful! Skip to Home. Home was the best.”

“What happened in Bugs that made it so awful?” Archie asked as Abby sat on the floor in front of where he was sat on his bed.

“Well there wasn’t much of a story really. It was just Sam and Dean got attacked by Creepy Crawlies and went home, knowing full well that there was every possibility what happened to them could happen again.” As she was talking, she didn’t see Ketch stood behind the door texting Mick. They’d have to investigate whatever that situation was later. He’d been about to tell them that Dinner was ready but they seemed so happy just sitting and chatting that he decided it could wait and went back to the kitchen to turn the oven down.

“That doesn’t sound like a very good story and Sam and Dean shouldn’t have done that. That’s very dangerous.”

“They did save the family that lived there but you’re right, it wasn’t very good.”

“Do you think you could read Home with me though?” Archie asked hesitantly and Abby couldn’t help but smile, pleased she’d finally got through to the boy.

“How about we go and ask your dad how Dinner’s getting on first. Don’t want to start then get told we have to stop and eat.”

Archie nodded at that logic. “And Daddy might get upset if we aren’t there to eat and our food gets cold he’s a very good cook.”

“Is he? Well I look forward to trying some of his food.” She told him as she got up to walk towards the kitchen. “Are you a good cook Archie?”

Archie shook his head. “I don’t know, I’ve never tried.”

“Not even baking?” Archie shook his head again. “Well I think we’ll just need to fix that, won’t we Arthur.” She said, shooting a smile in Ketch’s direction. Abby had to fight back giggles however when she saw he was wearing a red ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron and matching red oven gloves that had bright pink lip prints all over them.

“I think we will.”

“We’ll have to make some of my famous Salted Caramel cookies.” Abby told Archie as they sat down at the kitchen table. There was a dining room but this was their first meal all together and it had been agreed in advance that the dining room was far too formal for what they had planned.

 


	16. Chapter 16

Ketch had asked that they not make a big deal out of his birthday. His birthday held too many memories. Always reminded him of who he’d lost. He’d actually asked they just let the day pass completely, without acknowledgement. He should have known he wouldn’t be listened to.

He was woken by Archie and Abby who had cooked him a slightly burnt breakfast and created a pile of presents on the end of his bed. One each from Abby, Archie and Mick and a third parcel with no label.

“Happy birthday!” They both called out. 

Archie put the tray on his lap and Abby started passing him his presents. From Abby he had a new leather jacket, Archie gave him a rainbow dash top (which he was pretty sure Mick was behind) and Mick (as per their longstanding tradition) gave him a bottle of Phoenix Tears Rum.

“Who’s this one from?” Abby asked as she passed over the final parcel.

He poked it suspiciously, trying to decide if he should open it. “What’s that?” Archie asked, pointing towards something on the floor. 

Abby went to have a look. “It’s the tag, who are Sam and Dean?” Ketch relaxed as she said that.

“Friends of mine from America.” He opened the parcel and a sword fell out.

“Friends who sent you a sword?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a Samurai sword, with a minotaur femur handle.” He muttered to himself, testing the balance. “It’s a replica from a film.” He told Abby. She didn’t need to know that wasn’t actually true. He gave Archie a pointed look when Abby started to clear up. The boy nodded in understanding, he was lying to keep Abby safe but Archie wasn’t to touch it under any circumstances.

Abby then had to go to work but not before she told Ketch that they had a dinner reservation at a posh restaurant for later that night.

“Abby? Before you and Daddy go out, could you read me a story?” Abby paused in the doorway of Archie’s room. She’d only come to get Ketch before they went out to dinner but now Archie was asking her to read to him. She glanced at Ketch and he shrugged in an ‘it’s up to you’ sort of way.

“What would you like me to read to you?” Abby asked, heading towards the bookcase. Neither noticed when Ketch left to wait in the living room.

“I don’t know, which book do you like?”

Abby smiled when she noticed a particular title on the bookcase and pulled it out. “How about I read my favourite book from when I was your age?” Archie nodded and shuffled over to make room for Abby to sit on his bed. “The Fossil sisters lived in the Cromwell Road…”

Half an hour later, Abby still hadn’t resurfaced from Archie’s room. Ketch decided to go and investigate and was surprised to find his son and his girlfriend both fast asleep in Archie’s single bed. Abby was still all dolled up and ready to go in her heels and burgundy dress but she was as far gone as the child asleep on her lap, the book forgotten and on the floor, having fallen when they lost consciousness.

‘God, I love her.’ The thought crossed his mind before he could fully register it. Then he realised just how true it was. He really did love her. He wasn’t sure when it had happened or if she felt the same. But watching her sleeping with his son in her arms nothing else mattered.

He backed out of the room, silently closing the door behind him. Leaving the two to sleep.

Archie awoke the following morning to the smell of bacon, allowing his curiosity to get the better of him he decided to go and investigate.

He assumed his dad had decided he wanted to cook bacon for breakfast so was slightly startled to find Abby in the kitchen. She was wearing one of his dad’s shirts which came down to her knees and one of his dressing gowns. “Good morning Archie. She smiled at him, serving up the bacon.”

“What are you doing here Abby? And why aren’t you dressed?”

Abby paused for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face as she carefully constructed her answer. “Your dad and I were having a sleepover after our date last night.”

“Oh, ok.” Archie shrugged sitting down at the kitchen table. He knew what was going on really, of course he did. They’d done lessons at school and seen this exact setup in films and books. He was 9, he wasn’t stupid. But he’d wanted to see how Abby would answer the question and approved. She hadn’t lied to him but she’d also omitted the parts that Archie didn’t really want to think about.

Archie looked up from his breakfast as his dad entered the room. “Hi Daddy.”

“Morning Archie.” He reached for his mug, already full of steaming coffee.

“Morning Arthur.” Abby placed a kiss on his cheek as she went to sit down.

“Morning Abby.” He placed a kiss on the top of her head before sitting down between her and his son.

They were halfway through breakfast before Archie spoke again. “Did you have fun jumping on the bed last night Daddy?” Abby’s fork froze halfway to her mouth and Ketch almost choked on the piece of bacon in his own mouth.

Abby’s shock wore off first and Ketch was very aware of the fact she was laughing at him, more the expression on his face but still at him. “Yes Archie, we had fun.”

“How come you’re allowed to jump on the bed but I’m not?”

Again, Ketch was slightly stunned so Abby answered this time. “Because we’re grownups, we know how to do it in a very special way so we won’t get hurt or break the bed.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“Come on Archie, time for you to get ready for school and I need to get to work soon.” Archie nodded and they both got up from the table, leaving Ketch to finish eating in peace whilst they both went to get dressed for their respective days.

 


	17. Chapter 17

Ketch was more than a little stunned when he got the text from Abby. Deciding not to text back, he chose to call instead. Before she even had time to offer a greeting, he was asking the question that was on his mind. 

“What do you mean you want me to meet your family?”

“Hello to you too. I mean that my family are doing Sunday lunch and I want you and Archie to come. Is that alright?”

“Why?” 

“Arthur, we’ve been together a few months now. I get on really well with Archie. We’re obviously beginning to get serious so I’d really like you to meet my family.” Abby explained gently. 

“Alright, fine. Who will be there?” 

“Us, my brother, his partner, my niece and her boyfriend.” Abby told him. He could tell from her tone that there was something he wasn’t being told. 

“Has the niece’s boyfriend met your family yet?”

“No he hasn’t so you won’t be alone and I know you’ll get on really well.”

Abby promised to text him the address and hung up. It was Friday night and he’d had no plans to see Mick that weekend, which was a shame as if he had they’d have probably caught on much quicker. 

He agreed to meet Abby at the house and when he knocked, she opened the door with a massive smile. “Arthur! You made it!”

She lead Ketch through to the dining room where he froze in the doorway. Sat at the table talking to an older man was Hope. He could tell this must have been her father. They had the same eyes and he knew that Hope’s hair would be just as curly as his if she didn’t straighten it. What he couldn’t work out though was why they were here.  That is until Abby started on the introductions. “Arthur, this is my brother in law Ray, and I believe you’ve already met my favourite niece.”

“I’m your only niece Abby.” Hope retorted. 

Abby waved her away. “Details.”

Ketch was saved by the bell, quite literally and went to answer the door. He showed a very puzzled Mick into the dining room where he received the same talk, this time from Hope. It was then that Ketch noticed both his girlfriend and son had vanished and went to find them in the kitchen. Abby was sat on the counter talking to the man who was cooking and Archie was sat on a chair licking what appeared to be a chocolate covered spoon. 

“Arthur! Was that Mick then?” Abby asked, shifting the attention of everyone in the room to Ketch. 

“Yes it was.”

“Good, come with me.” Abby’s brother led him back to the dining room. 

Ketch heard Abby shout after them. “Be nice Bill!” That’s when it hit Ketch just what he was up against. William Bodie and Ray Doyle. 

“Who do you work for?” Bodie asked, getting straight to the point as Ketch sat next to Mick. 

“What do you mean?” Mick asked, looking puzzled. 

“You’ve got that look. The look ex secret services get.” Ray explained. 

Mick and Ketch shared a look before Ketch answered. “We’re Men of Letters.”

Bodie and Doyle both paled at that revelation. “No, get out. Get out and don’t come near them again.”

Mick and Ketch stared at the pair. They’d expected any number of reactions, but not that. 

Bodie noticed their confusion and felt the need to explain his partner’s reaction. “We tried so hard to keep them out of this and we don’t want them to get into it now.”

“What about if we made sure they didn’t get involved? As far as they know we’re teachers. We can keep it secret and they don’t need to know.” Mick offered.

“That’s fine for you, but I don’t want a Ketch near my sister. I met your parents and I don’t want Abby getting involved with people like that.”

“Mr Bodie, I am not my parents and have no intentions on being anything like them. They haven’t been a part of my life since I was 8 and I have no plans to change that.” Bodie nodded, satisfied by that answer. In truth they couldn’t stop the girls from dating whoever they wanted but they didn’t have to be happy about it. The conversation was halted as Abby, Hope and Archie brought the food through and the four men kept a civil conversation for the rest of the meal with the girls none the wiser as to what had just transpired.

 


	18. Chapter 18

“Would you like to go to the park?” Abby asked, glancing up from her tablet to where Archie was playing on the floor.

“Can we go to the one that Anna used to take me to?”

“Of course, we can.” Before she’d even finished her sentence, Archie had run off to grab his shoes.

The park wasn’t overly far so they decided to walk, spending the whole time talking about anything and everything they could possibly think of. When the park came into view, Archie ran ahead but froze when he got to the gate.

There was already two children playing in the park and a woman was stood by the bench watching them.

Abby saw as Archie slowly opened the gate and approached the woman. He greeted her politely and went to play with the other children.

Having watched this, Abby decided to go and find out who the mystery woman could possibly be.

“Hi, I’m Abby.” She greeted her, holding out a hand.

Abby just managed to suppress the need to roll her eyes when the woman took her hand between her thumb and forefinger to shake. “Anna, pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Oh, you’re Anna. Archie was talking about you on the way over.”

“If you don’t consider it an imposition, may I just ask how you know young master Archibald?”

“It’s not an imposition.  I’m…” Abby paused for a moment trying to figure out the best way to explain their relationship. “I’m his father’s girlfriend.” She finally explained.

Abby noticed the suspicious look she was given but ignored it in favour of Archie who had just run over. 

“Abby? Can we go home and get Davey? I want to show them Davey.”

Abby reached into her bag and pulled out the toy dragon. “I found him on the table and thought he wouldn't want to miss the chance to go to the park.” Archie grabbed the toy excitedly. 

“Thanks Abby.” He ran off to show his dragon to the other children whilst Anna watched the scene gobsmacked. 

“How have you managed that? He was never so outgoing in my care.”

Abby just shrugged. “Has been as long as I've known him. I suppose, and I mean no disrespect to Toni when I say this, but I suppose it's the difference having the constant presence of a loving parent.”

Anna wasn't sure what to say. Whilst she couldn't deny that Toni loved Archie, she also couldn't deny that she was never around when he needed her most. It wasn't her fault it came with the job. The idea that Archie now had the loving family he always deserved warmed her heart, but she couldn't quite place what Abby was describing against her own observations of Ketch in the past. 

“I know you have your reasons for keeping your distance but I know Archie misses you. If I gave you my number, would you consider seeing him again?” Anna’s stiff nod was enough for Abby and she quickly wrote down her mobile number in her police jotter before tearing out the page and handing it over. Anna had to take the other children home and Archie continued to talk about her all the way back home. 

“Archie, sweetheart. I know you're nervous about sitters after last time but I promise it will be alright.” Abby explained from the doorway to Archie’s room. She didn't get to stay for long though because the doorbell rang so she left Archie in Ketch’s capable hands. 

When she returned with the new babysitter in tow, Ketch was sat on the bed with his arms wrapped around the small boy. “I know what happened last time was scary but I promise I won't let anything like that happen ever again.” Ketch was soothing him gently. 

Anna stood behind Abby with a stunned look on her face. She had never seen this side to him before and had honestly believed it didn't exist, but then she'd know better than most just how good Archie is at bringing out the best in people. 

Ketch spotted them in the doorway and nodded to Abby before continuing. “Besides I don't think Anna would let it happen either.” Archie’s head shot up and before anyone could react, he'd climbed from his father’s lap and was clinging to Anna. In that moment all the adults knew they'd made the right decision. Archie would be alright. 

 


	19. Chapter 19

“Daddy.” The sound of Archie’s voice woke Ketch straight away.

“What is it Archie?” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes in order to focus better on his son. Turning on the bedside lamp, he could see that Archie’s eyes were red from crying and he was clearly distressed.

“I need to see Abby and Hope. I had a nightmare. They were at work and got attacked by demons.” Archie explained, voice shaking as he tried to stay calm.

“I’m sure they’re alright.” Ketch explained gently. “Would it help if I phoned Abby?” Archie nodded. Ketch reached over to get the landline from the bedside table but there was no reply. This worried him a little but he knew he couldn’t let on to Archie. “How about you go and wake Uncle Mick and we’ll go and visit the girls at work.” It didn’t occur to him until after the fact that he could have tried ringing the station direct but his mind was fogged with sleep and worry. When Archie left the room, he grabbed the first t-shirt he found and didn’t even bother to check which one it was before throwing it on.

Putting his shoes on, he ushered Archie and an only half-awake Mick into the car.

The station was silent when they arrived, just one desk sergeant as far as they could see, which worried them all even more as there was no sign of the girls. “Can I help you?” The sergeant asked.

“We’re looking for Abby and Hope, they haven’t been answering their phones.” Mick explained to the officer. He realised how this must have looked with: him in his blue t-shirt and flannel trousers; Archie in his favourite union Jack Onesie and Ketch… Ketch in his pyjama trousers and a Rainbow Dash t-shirt that Archie had gotten him for his birthday as a joke. He really was in a rush to get dressed. When the sergeant returned he had a very sleepy Abby and Hope in tow.

Abby was wearing Harry Potter pyjamas that read, ‘I don’t go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me.’ Hope on the other hand had some grumpy cat pyjamas with ‘Wake me never!! Grrr Grrr Grr’ written on the front. “What are you doing here?” Abby asked between yawns.

“Archie had a nightmare where you both got hurt and you weren’t answering when we tried to call.” Ketch explained, Archie having visibly relaxed the moment the girls arrived.

“Our phones died an hour into our shift. I’m sorry that we worried you.” Abby explained.

“If you’re working, why are you in your pyjamas?” Archie asked.

“Because we were sleeping. With the night shift, there are always three people, two asleep and one awake in case something happens. Then we swap so everyone has some time awake and sometime asleep.” Hope’s voice was gentle and she seemed a little more awake as she knelt in front of the boy.

“But why not get people to come in for shifts?”

“Because people didn’t like having to get up and come to work at midnight and we have very comfy cots here at the station.” Hope added.

“Why didn’t we see you today?” Archie’s question this time was aimed at Abby, he’d gotten so used to seeing her almost every day that he thought something might be wrong when he hadn’t seen her that day.

“Because today was about your mum and I didn’t want to get in the way or upset you by being there if I wasn’t wanted.” Abby told him gently.

“Next year you should come with us. I think Mummy would have liked you. She would have wanted to meet you.” Abby was slightly taken aback by that comment. She didn’t really know what to say. Instead she just pulled the boy into a big hug, trying to fight back tears in her eyes.

 


	20. Chapter 20

“Mr Ketch. I just caught your son and his friend Sebastian doing magic unsupervised.” Ketch looked up from his paperwork at the teacher that had just barged into his office, dragging his son and the friend in question in tow. It was times like these when he almost missed the old days, when people were far too scared of him to dare being that unbelievably rude.

“Alright. Thank you, Ms Stevens. I’ll take care of it.” He’d have said anything to get rid of that dreadful woman but he knew he needed to do something. Luckily just as she was leaving, Mick knocked on the door.

“What’s going on?” He asked when he noticed the two boys stood in Ketch’s office.

“They were just doing magic without supervision.” Ketch explained, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the two boys stood in front of him. “And I was about to give them detention.”

Archie nodded in understanding. He knew what he’d done was wrong and he understood the necessity. Sebastian on the other hand was furious. Went off about how he was a legacy and shouldn’t be treated like this and how it was a completely unfair punishment. He even went as far as to say they were as bad as the old Men of Letters. This caused Mick and Ketch to share a glance and through some form of unspoken communication they both knew exactly what to do next.

“Is that so? In which case, would you like to come with me.” Ketch got up from his desk and left the room, knowing the boys wouldn’t dare do anything other than follow. Whilst Archie knew his dad would never do anything to hurt him or cause him harm, Sebastian was scared. Like all the legacies he’d heard rumours about Ketch and didn’t like the thought of what might happen next. He led the boys to a small room, barely bigger than a cupboard with two rusty and rickety beds crammed into it. “Do you know what this is?” Both boys shook their heads. “This is where you used to get shut if you misbehaved. Mr Davies and I were once shut in here for two weeks for doing the same thing you did. There was no outside contact with anyone else. So, I think a detention is a fair punishment. Don’t you?”

Sebastian nodded and both boys were dismissed. “Is that true Daddy? Did they really do that to you and Uncle Mick?” Archie asked, hanging behind for a moment to talk to his dad.

“We’ll talk about it later, I promise.” Ketch told him, sending Archie off to his next lesson.

“I really missed you after that, you know.” Ketch turned to see Mick stood behind him, looking past him, into the room.

“Me too.”

“Why did we stop hanging out after that?”

“Because we had to. Because the Old Men already had me pegged as someone they wanted to try that treatment on. But first they had to get rid of everyone close to me. First you. Then Toni.” Ketch explained. He’d read as much in his file.

“I thought I’d done something wrong and you blamed me for it.”

“Really? Come on Mate, you know I’d never blame you.” Mick nodded. He knew that now but he’d spent so many years thinking that was the case, thinking that it was his fault that it would take a while for him to fully accept that. “Come on. Let’s skip the rest of the paperwork and go get some lunch.” Ketch suggested. They both needed some food and possibly something very alcoholic after that.

They finished work for the day, but it didn’t get much easier as the day wore on. Ketch was suddenly really relieved that Abby was meant to be visiting later.

He unlocked the front door and Archie ran in. As Ketch entered the kitchen, the very last thing he expected was to have a tongue shoved down his throat. He pushed whoever it was off and was surprised to see it was Adriel.

“Arthur? What’s going on?” Abby asked from the doorway. She’d just walked in and whilst she trusted her boyfriend completely, she wasn’t sure what other explanation there was to her walking in on that kiss.

“Who’s she?” Adriel snapped.

“Abby, Adriel. Adriel this is my girlfriend Abby.” Ketch gave Adriel a pointed look that said if she tried that again he’d kill her.

“Since when did you have a girlfriend!? I thought you loved me!”

“I fancied you when I was a child. That stopped the moment you ran out on me without so much as a goodbye.” 

Abby stood in the doorway, watching this exchange take place. She zoned out after she heard him say he fancied the woman in front of her. That didn’t sound good for Abby’s own relationship and she couldn’t help but feel her heartbreak at the thought.

“She doesn’t know you like I do! I bet she doesn’t even know the truth! Dump her! She’d never accept you for who you really are!” Adriel shrieked.

“That’s n-”

“No, she’s right. She knows you better than I do. You should be with her.” Abby interrupted, tears streaming down her face as she turned and left. Shooting one last glare at Adriel, Ketch ran after her.

“Abby, stop.” He pulled the sobbing girl gently into his arms. “I don’t care about her and I don’t want to be with her. I want to be with you. I love you.”

That made Abby look up in surprise. Of all the things she expected him to say, that wasn’t one of them. “That’s good, because I don’t want to leave and I love you too.” He leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her lips, neither of them noticing the scathing look they were receiving from within the flat. After a bit of convincing, Abby agreed to spend the night so they could discuss it further.

 


	21. Chapter 21

Abby and Hope had finished work early, so they decided to surprise Mick and Ketch. They headed straight to their offices but they were stopped before they could go in.

"Excuse me, you can't go in there," said a woman that neither of them had seen before as she blocked the doorway.

"Oh, we were just visiting Mick and Arthur." Abby said, worried that they'd come at a bad time.

"They're busy. They have a school to run, they can't just stop what they are doing to take unscheduled meetings." She replied, glaring at them.

The door opened and Mick stepped out. When he saw them, he immediately hugged Hope.

"I thought I heard someone out here. What are you doing here?" 

"We wanted to surprise you." Hope said. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's a great time. Come in. Ketch is teaching a class right now, but he'll be out soon." Mick let them in his office and shut the door behind them. "Why would you think this was a bad time? You’re always welcome here."

"That woman out there seemed to think we shouldn't be here because you were too busy." Abby told him.

"Oh. That's Shirl. She doesn't really take well to people she doesn't know, but she's harmless. We've known her since we were kids."

The door opened and Ketch walked in. He looked annoyed, but his mood lightened slightly when he saw the girls. He hugged Abby before turning his attention to Mick.

"Remind me Mick, why did we hire that woman as our secretary? She's bloody useless."

"She's not so bad. She does what we ask her to do."

Ketch rolled his eyes. "She does what you ask her to do, and that's only because she’s still obsessed with you."

"What does that mean?" Hope asked.

"It's not a big deal. We dated briefly, but it was a long time ago. She's not obsessed with me" Mick explained.

"You hired your ex-girlfriend and spend every day with her. Don't you think that's a bit weird?" Abby asked.

"No I don't. Like I said, it was a long time ago. It wasn't even a serious relationship."

The girls warned him that he should be very careful in future, just on the off chance that Ketch was right. They changed the subject after that and the three of them had lunch together. They didn't know that Shirl had been listening the whole time. Abby and Hope wanted to get rid of her, so she decided to get rid of them instead.

That night, Shirl gathered everything she needed and she summoned a demon. "I'll give you whatever you want, but I need you to do something for me first. I need you to get rid of two people who are in my way." The demon agreed to go after Hope and Abby and the deal was sealed.

The next day, Mick called Hope when he knew she would be on break. She didn't answer so he called her boss to check that she was okay, but he was told that she didn't turn up for work. Worried that she might be ill, he asked to speak to Abby instead but she hadn't showed for work either.

He was now really worried, and went to tell Ketch. The two of them tried to call Abby, again with no answer. Mick kept trying to call them while Ketch traced their phones. He found them in an abandoned building not far away.

"Found them. Let's go."

The two of them were leaving when Shirl spotted them and stopped them. "Where are you going?"

"We have to go and find Abby and Hope. Something's wrong, they aren't answering their phones."

She saw how worried they were. She did still have feelings for Mick, and yes she was jealous of Hope, but it was painful seeing how much this hurt him.

"I have to tell you something," she said.

"Can it wait? We have to go."

"No, it can't. I know what happened to them."

The guys both went from worried to angry in a second. "What did you do?" Ketch asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm so sorry. I was upset when I heard your conversation yesterday, so I summoned a demon and sent the demon after them. I wasn't thinking."

"I'll kill you." Ketch threatened, taking a step towards her, but Mick stopped him. 

"We have to go and save them." he reminded him. "We'll deal with this later.”

Abby woke in a dark room with a pain in the back of her head. She reached her hand up and felt blood matted in her hair. She looked around trying to figure out where she was, but everything was boarded up so there was very little light. She tried to get to the window to check through the small gap but she didn't get far. There were chains around her ankles preventing her from reaching it.

When her eyes adjusted she could see someone else in the room, lying on the ground near her. It was Hope. She tried to get to her but she couldn't. "Hope? Hope, wake up."

She got no response. She wasn't sure if she should be worried that her friend hadn't woken up yet, or grateful that Hope didn't know that they had been abducted.

There was someone outside the door, voices getting closer. If her captors thought she was going to play the victim they were in for a shock. She wasn't about to go down without a fight.

A man walked in and stood just beyond her reach. "Hello sweetheart. I'm glad you're up, don't want you sleeping through the good bit."

"I bet you say that to all the girls" she said.

He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed just hard enough to hurt, but not to completely cut off oxygen. She kneed him hard in the balls and punched him in the face. He laughed.

"I like you, you're feisty." He grinned at her and his eyes turned black. She jumped backwards and fell.

"What's the matter sweetheart? Did loverboy not warn you about the things that go bump in the night?"

"What are you?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm a demon, and I'm going to enjoy hurting you." He said with a cruel laugh.

"Why are you doing this to us?"

"We honour our deals, especially if it means we can have some fun. And those boyfriends of yours need to suffer. We liked our previous arrangement with their kind, but since they've taken over demons can't make their deals. There's a price on their heads and I'll be the one to collect when I tear them apart. But not before they see what I'm about to do to you."

Abby went to try and attack him but he used his powers to restrain her against the floor. She tried fighting against it but it was no use.

Someone else entered the room then. A second demon, her eyes already black. The first demon stabbed Abby in the shoulder and twisted the blade inside her. Her screams echoing through the room were enough to wake Hope. When she saw Abby she tried to help her, but the second demon restrained her too.

She walked up to Hope and stood on the top of her arm and yanked the bottom half in the wrong direction with enough force to shatter her elbow. The demons just laughed as they sliced into them and broke their bones over and over again, until the pain was too much and both girls passed out.

Mick and Ketch had raced there, ignoring the speed limit. Ketch was about to just charge in there, but Mick stopped him.

"What are you doing? This is a demon fight, you can't go in there unarmed."

He knew Mick was right. As much as he wanted to rip the demons apart with his bare hands, it wasn't possible. So he went to the boot of the car and pulled out the Hyperbolic Pulse Generator, concealing it in his jacket.

The two of them entered the abandoned warehouse and checked it room by room. It was suspiciously quiet. When they reached the room where the girls were being held, they ran to their sides. There was a lot of blood and obvious broken bones on each of them. They were both chained to the floor by their ankles, so the guys picked the locks and freed them. They'd been so focused on the girls that they didn't notice, up until that point, the two corpses at their sides. The girls opened their black eyes at the same time and both Mick and Ketch were sent crashing into the wall.

Demon Abby approached Ketch. "What should I do with you now? It feels a little too easy to torture and kill you. You deserve to suffer after everything you've done."

"What exactly are you blaming me for?"

"We used to have an arrangement. We could do our work in peace, but now we can't make our deals anymore because we are being hunted. Thanks to you." She smirked at him. "I wonder what inspired the regime change. Maybe it was your son. Archie, what a cute name. I might just pay him a little visit once I'm done with you."

They could practically feel the rage coming off Ketch now. "That's more like it," demon Abby said before punching him in the face until he bled.

"It was me." Mick told them. "I'm the one that gave the order to hunt down the demons."

Both demons turned their attention to Mick and punched him over and over again. Ketch took advantage of their distraction to get the Hyperbolic Pulse Generator from his pocket. It took almost all of his strength to get it, but he managed it. Holding it firmly in his hand he said the incantation.

"Vade retro princeps inferni." The demons were driven out of their bodies in a cloud of black smoke and sent back to hell.

Mick and Ketch checked the girls were okay. They were unconscious and the demons had done a lot of damage, but they were breathing. They carefully picked them up and ran with them to the car. Once again they ignored speed limits and hurtled towards the hospital. They couldn't let anyone else die in front of them. Not like this.

They made it to the hospital and carried the girls inside, where they were taken away by teams of doctors trying to save them. The guys refused to let anyone see to their own injuries. They didn't care about themselves, they just wanted to know that Abby and Hope would be okay.

The only time either of them left the hospital for the next few hours was to collect Archie from class. The rest of the time they were either in the waiting room or the cafeteria.

Eventually, the stress of waiting for the girls to get out of surgery became too much and Ketch had to go outside for a cigarette whilst Mick watched Archie. He was more surprised than he should have been to run into Hope’s dad and Abby’s brother. The sudden blow knocked the cigarette out of his mouth. It took all of Ketch’s self-restraint not to hit back just as hard but he knew it would only make matters worse to punch Hope’s dad in the face.

“What were you thinking!?” Doyle demanded. “You were supposed to be looking after them!”

“We tried. We couldn’t have stopped it.” Ketch tried to explain calmly.

“Well you should have tried!” Ketch didn’t really know how to respond that. He already felt guilty and although he knew there was little he could have done differently that wasn’t going to go away. He didn’t think he’d ever know if it was completely his fault but any possible argument he could have come up with was halted by the arrival of Hope and Abby’s Doctor.

“Mr Ketch, Mr Davies said you would be out here. Miss Cowley is out of surgery and has requested to see you. Who are these gentlemen?” He asked, noticing Bodie and Doyle for the first time.

“This is Hope’s father and Abby’s brother.” Ketch explained, moving towards the door in search of Abby. He could hear the Doctor asking questions to the others and wanted to be gone before they tried hitting him again. He was certain that if it happened for a second time he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from lashing out.

When he reached Abby’s room, Archie was already there. One look at Abby’s face as he walked in and Ketch knew this wasn’t going to be pretty so he sent Archie to go and talk to Abby’s nurse, a woman called Julie who had promised to keep an eye on him if she needed to.

“Demons.” Abby paused for a moment before continuing. “Demons. You knew they were real and you didn’t bother to say. You didn’t bother to tell me you were actually a hunter. What were you thinking?” If she had been shouting Ketch would have known what to do, but this quiet anger was completely new. He didn’t have a clue what the right thing to say was.

“I was going to tell you. But I didn’t think you’d believe me and then your brother-“

“I think you should have tried. You should have tried talking to me about it before you kept something so important from me, and what pray tell do you have to say about my brother?”

“He told me not to tell you.” Ketch knew this wouldn’t be helping matters but at this point he didn’t care. If he couldn’t set the record straight then there was no hope for his relationship with Abby.

“He… Get out. Get out and don’t come near me again. And if you happen to see my idiot brother on your way out, tell him the same thing.” Ketch nodded, not sure what else he could do. He felt completely numb as he left the hospital room. He could hear Hope shouting at Mick about how he should have been honest with her and the fact he wasn’t was the biggest betrayal. Then she said the same fateful words Ketch had just heard himself. Leave and never come back.

Abby and Hope returned to work surprisingly soon after the incident, something that both Mick and Ketch were aware of because they went in every single day to see if they were in.

“What are you doing here?” Abby asked, not even looking up from her paperwork.

“We wanted to check on you and make sure you were both alright.” Ketch knew it sounded a little pathetic but since the girls had already been targeted by demons once, it meant an exponential increase in the chances that they would be attacked again.

"We’re fine. You can leave now.”

“We can’t, because if we do you’re likely to be attacked again.” Mick tried to explain but Abby didn’t want to hear it.

“I don’t care. We don’t want to see you. Either of you. What’s it going to take to make you leave us alone?”

“Go to America. We have friends, Sam and Dean Winchester, you can stay with. They’re hunters so they can keep you safe. It also means you don’t have to worry about seeing us.” Ketch wasn’t completely sure where that idea had come from but it was the best one he had.

“Fi… wait… Winchester… You’ve gotta be kidding me. So now you’re telling me that not only are those books real but you’re friends with… Ok, you know what? Fine. We’ll stay with the Winchesters if it will make you leave us alone. Now leave before Hope turns up for lunch.”

“Alright, we’ll go.” Ketch told her, guiding Mick towards the door so they could be gone before Hope arrived.

It shouldn’t have surprised Abby as much as it did when she saw two men waiting for them at the airport. It should have occurred to her that Mick and Ketch would ask the Winchesters to meet them. They both looked different to how Abby had pictured them but they were also both significantly more gorgeous than chuck had described. 

“Abby and Hope?” The taller of the two asked. Abby knew that must be Sam. 

“Yeah, I’m Abby and this is Hope.” Abby was relieved that they waited before doing the drill with the salt and holy water but she stopped as they exited the terminal.

Parked outside was the car she’d only read about. “She’s gorgeous.” Abby told Dean when he looked at her in confusion. Abby approached Baby slowly, gently running her hand over the car’s roof. 

“I like her.” Dean told Sam over the top of the car. Sam just rolled his eyes and climbed in. 

“Right, so where to first?” Dean asked once everyone was in the car. “Back to the Bunker or the tattoo studio?” 

“Why would we need to go to a tattoo studio?” Hope spoke up for the first time since leaving Heathrow. 

“Because with a heightened emotional state comes an increased chance of demonic possession. We need anti possession tattoos to stop it from happening.” Abby explained. Beating Sam to it by a fraction of a second. 

“How do you know all that?” Sam asked, turning round to look at the brunette. He was sure Mick had said they were civilians. 

Abby reached into her hand luggage and pulled out a copy of Faith, handing it to Sam. 

“I see you brought your current favourite with you.” Hope teased, prompting Abby to poke her tongue out at her best friend. 

“Why is this your favourite?” Sam asked, passing it back after a quick glance at the blurb. 

Before Abby could answer, Hope answered for her. “Because it’s the one she’s currently reading.”

“Basically, yeah.” Abby told him with a smile. 

His earlier question completely forgotten, Dean decided to take them back to the bunker. Theorising that the girls must be tired and the tattoos could wait until they had rested. It was a decision that both girls appreciated as they were shown to their rooms. They weren’t to know that the Winchesters had put them in the rooms their boyfriends had used over a year prior but Sam had hoped it might help. Somehow. As if, after everything Mick and Ketch went through in those rooms, they’d have left an impression to get the girls back to them.

A few days later, Sam found Abby wandering the library looking at the books. “You know, we have all the supernatural books if you want to take them home.” Sam called over, making her laugh.

“I’ve got them all, but Archie would love you forever.”

“Ketch’s kid likes the Supernatural books?” Sam asked, sitting down at the table.

“Yeah, he absolutely loves them. We really bonded over them when Arthur and I started dating.” Abby explained, moving to sit opposite him. “I was thinking I’d try and get him something supernatural related for his birthday whilst I was here.”

Sam nodded, pausing for a moment as he had an idea. “What about a signed first edition?”

“That’d be great! Where would you get one though?” Abby asked, following Sam as he got up to pull a book from the shelf. 

“Chuck’s a friend of ours. He stayed a while ago. When he found the books, he got a little pen happy.” Sam decided it was best not to tell her that Chuck was actually God. She was still trying to process the whole demons thing without piling even more stuff on top.

“Are you sure you don’t mind parting with it?”

“Of course not. In fact, should Dean and I sign it for him as well?”

“I think he’d love that.” Abby replied with a grin. Sam went to grab a permanent marker and signed his name in the space just above Chuck leaving Dean plenty of space to sign below. He then went to find his brother in the kitchen and brought the book back to Abby. “Thank you Sam. I’ll get this in the post when Dean and I go for a supply run tomorrow.”

It was then that Hope came to join them with a brunette girl that Abby hadn’t met before. 

“Eileen.” Sam’s face lit up and he couldn’t resist pulling her into a kiss. 

She kissed him back before asking. “Who are these people?” She and Hope had a little trouble communicating due to the ASL, BSL sign language barrier so they hadn’t managed to get as far as introductions.

“This is Hope, and that’s Abby.” Sam told her. He had been going to say they were Mick and Ketch’s girlfriends but bit his tongue just in time. Given the reason the girls were currently staying with them, he figured they wouldn’t appreciate being introduced in relation to the boys. Instead he told her, “They’re police from London.” Eileen shot him a sideways glance. She could tell he wasn’t telling her everything but he signed “later” to her. He’d tell her everything, but not when there was a chance he’d upset Hope and Abby. Eileen nodded and dropped the subject, electing instead to spend the day getting to know the girls and teaching them bits of ASL to make things easier.

They spent most of the rest of the night with Eileen, talking and learning ASL. It was a much needed distraction from everything that had been going on recently. Sam joined them after a while, and Dean sat nearby watching movies on his laptop. It was the first time the girls had felt comfortable being there, so far away from home.

The next day, Sam and Dean had to leave for a case so Dean called Castiel to stay with the girls in the bunker until they returned. They would've preferred to stay with Eileen, but she'd already left. It was a bit more difficult making conversation with the angel, so after a few failed attempts to talk to him the girls decided to sit and read in silence instead.

Dean had told Cas who they were and why they were there. In the time he did spend with Mick and Ketch, Cas had grown quite fond of them, and if these women made them happy he wanted that for them. But they seemed uncomfortable when he mentioned their names. He watched the curiously, and as he did he noticed Hope wincing in pain and clutching her arm.

"Hope are you okay?" Cas questioned. It made her jump slightly that he was suddenly talking to her.

"Its an injury from the demon attack. Surgery can only help so much." She explained.

He sat down next to her and gently placed his fingers to her head. "Better?" He asked with a smile.

The pain vanished. She flexed her arm a few times to see if it came back, but she was completely healed. As though it never happened. "How did you do that?"

"One of the perks of being an angel." He stated.

"Thankyou" she said as she hugged him. He froze for a second before hugging her back.

"You're welcome. There's no reason for you to live with a physical reminder of what that demon did to you." He let go and turned to Abby. "Would you like me to remove your injuries?"

"I'm fine." She told him.

"No, you're not. You have recent scarring. I could heal them for you." He offered.

"Abby, let him heal you." Hope told her. She knew her friend could be stubborn and is not the most trusting person on the planet, but she shouldn't have to live with scars either. Abby agreed and Cas healed her.

Meanwhile Sam and Dean had just arrived at their motel. Dean took out his phone, just so he could look like he was doing something while Sam did research. When he switched it on he had multiple missed calls from Mick and Ketch, plus a bunch of texts from them both asking how the girls were. Before he could type a response to their messages, it rang again.   
"What is it Mick?" He asked as he answered his phone, as if he didn't already know why Mick was calling.

"Are they alright?"

"Yeah, considering. They're safe." Dean answered.

"Good. Can I talk to Hope?"

"They're not with us, we left them with Cas." Dean told him.

"Oh. Okay." Mick responded, more than a little disappointed.

Sam gestured for Dean to hand him the phone, which he did gratefully. As much as he liked Mick, and understood what he was going through, he didn't feel comfortable talking to him about it. Sam was always better at that than he was.

"Hey Mick, how're you holding up?" Sam asked.

"I'm... handling it better than Ketch." Mick answered.

"Is he okay?" Sam said. There was a pause. "Sorry, stupid question."

"He's not really coping. I've been babysitting Archie a lot so he can go out and hunt something. I don't know who to be more concerned about; Ketch, Archie or the girls."

"I promise you the girls are safe, you have no reason to worry about them." Sam reassured him. "And I'm sure Ketch will be fine. It's what hunters do, we fight monsters as a distraction when we need to. He's going through a lot, but he's dealing with it in his own way."

By this point, Sam could practically feel Dean rolling his eyes at all the 'touchy feely crap as he calls it. As much as he wanted to help Mick, there wasn't much he could really do for him, and he needed to research for the case.

"I'm sorry Mick, but I have to get back to the case. But we'll keep you updated on things here." Sam promised him.

Mick said goodbye and they ended the call. "What did you tell him that for?" Dean asked, a little annoyed.

"What? He has the right to know they're okay. They both do." Sam defended himself. Dean rolled his eyes but didn't comment.

Over the course of the next week, Mick and Ketch called to check in every day. Sam was more understanding of it than Dean, who was getting progressively more annoyed.

"Don't they know we'd call if something happened?" Dean said in frustration as his phone rang again. He sighed and answered it. "What is it this time Ketch?"

"Is Abby there please?" Archie's voice said on the other end of the line.

"Who is this?" Dean asked.

"Archie. I'm Archie Bevell."

They hadn't involved the girls in the calls up to this point to give them some space, but he figured for the kid he could make an exception. "Hang on kid, I'll get her for you." He found her and Hope in the kitchen drinking tea. "Abby, call for you."

"If it's Arthur, I don't want to speak to him." She responded.

"It's the kid." He told her and handed her the phone.

"Archie?"

"Abby, please come home." He begged. "Daddy and uncle Mick are sad. They miss you and auntie Hope. I miss you too."

"I miss you, but I can't come home." She told him. It broke her heart a little that this separation was hurting Archie.

"Why not?" Archie asked.

"It's complicated." She didn't know how much Archie knew, and didn't want to upset him more. "Just know that I care about you, but I need to take some time away from your dad right now. It doesn't mean that I don't care, and it's not forever. No matter what, I will still see you again. I promise. I wouldn't just leave you without saying goodbye." She swore to him.   
She could hear him crying on the other end, and wanted nothing more than to give him a hug and tell him it was going to be okay. But she couldn't do that.

"Daddy's coming, I have to go." Archie said before the line went dead. Abby handed the phone back to Dean and tried to hide how much she was hurting. Hope stood up and hugged her, and she broke down in tears. Hope stayed with her for the whole night, trying to ease some of the guilt she was feeling over Archie's pain.

 


	22. Chapter 22

It was the middle of the night when Dean's phone rang. He didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was.

"Ketch, it's late. She's sleeping so unless it's life or death I'm not waking her." Dean said in a sleepy voice.

"Sorry mate, I forgot about the time difference. Just tell me, is she okay?"

"She's fine."

"Good. I'll let you get back to sleep." The line went dead, and no matter how much he tried, Dean couldn't get back to sleep. Instead he got up and made some coffee. Sam was already in the kitchen.

"Can't sleep?" Sam asked.

"I got a call from Ketch. We've gotta do something about this Sammy, it's messing with my beauty sleep."

"Seriously?" Sam said, giving his best bitch face. "Our friends are miserable, and you’re complaining that you're not getting enough sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever. We'll do something. Talk to Abby and Hope," Dean groaned at having to talk to them about feelings. "It might be easier to talk to them one to one. I'll take Hope on a supply run and you stay here with Abby. We have to convince them it's time to go back."

"Fine." Dean muttered between sips of coffee.

A few hours later the girls woke up. Everyday they were looking more and more miserable, but Sam and Dean weren't going to tell Ketch or Mick about that. Then they would just call more than they already did.

"Hey Hope, I could use some help with a supply run. Do you want to come with me?" Sam asked.

"Why don't you take Dean?"

He stepped closer to her as if he was about to tell her a secret. "He's in a bad mood. I'd rather not be stuck in the car with him when he's like this." He said quietly. She accepted that and went with him, leaving Abby and Dean in the bunker library.

"Sit down. We need to talk." she sat at the table opposite him. "What are you doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"You and Ketch. I get it, you're upset with him. But do you really want to hide out here forever?"

"That's not what I'm doing." she defended herself. "I'm not hiding and it's not forever."

"You care about him right?" She nodded. "And if the million phone calls are any indication, he's crazy about you. So what's the problem?"

"Are you serious? He kept a huge part of his life secret from me. He didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth and Hope and I could have died because of it."

Dean knew all of that of course, but he also knew how much it was killing them being apart. "Would you have believed him if he told you?" She didn't answer. "I didn't think so. Look, me and Sammy have been in this situation before. It's not easy telling someone what we do. The first woman I ever told about what we really do thought I was crazy. It was years before I told anyone else and that was only because I didn't have a choice."

"I know. I read the books." She told him.

"So then you know that they didn't tell you because they were trying to protect you. Don't you think he's suffered enough?"

"I don't want to hurt him," she said.

"Then go back home. The guy needs you, he's a mess. Just something to think about." He stood up and left, grateful that conversation was over.

Meanwhile in the car, Sam and Hope were headed to the store in relative silence. "Hope listen, the real reason I brought you with me is I wanted to talk to you. About Mick."

"What about him?" She asked.

"He misses you. I know you're mad at him, and you have every right to be, but I know you miss him too. Don't get me wrong, we like having you around, but we all know you don't really want to be here."

"No I don't. But he lied to me Sam, how am I supposed to trust him now?"

"It's not like he wanted to lie to you, he loves you. He just wanted to keep you safe. I did the same thing with the first woman I ever loved, so I speak from experience. Her name was Jess and she never knew the truth about me. But that doesn't mean I didn't love her, just like it doesn't mean Mick doesn't love you."

"What happened to Jess?" Hope asked.

"She was killed by a demon. But the next woman I cared about, Madison, knew what I did and it still didn't keep her safe. Knowing the truth doesn't mean you would have been safer. It's not Mick's fault what happened to you, and he feels awful. I just think you would both be better off if you went back to him."

Later that very night Ketch was woken with a start, it took him a moment to figure out what it was. Then he realised someone was stood at the end of his bed.

“I see she left you then.” Adriel stated dryly. “I told you she wouldn’t accept who you really were.”

“Were you involved in this?” Ketch asked suspiciously.

“No, it works well to my advantage though doesn’t it.”

“No it doesn’t. Even if she never comes back, I will never be with you.” 

“Oh really. We’ll see about that.” She was gone before he had a chance to respond.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Abby was sat at the desk in her room. She was working on a letter to her family when she heard a flutter of wings behind her. She turned just in time to be slammed against the wall with a knife against her throat.

“How dare you steal him from me. He was mine and you ruined him.” Adriel hissed, digging the blade into the soft skin of Abby’s throat. Not much but enough to draw blood. 

“I didn’t. It was his choice.” Abby regretted saying that, the moment it came out of her mouth. She knew if Adriel hadn’t been going to kill her before she certainly would now.

Abby heard the door slamming open and a gunshot before Adriel collapsed to the floor. Dead. Abby turned to look at the source of the noises and there was a very sleepy Dean Winchester, holding the colt in his hand. 

“You alright?” He asked. Abby just swallowed and nodded.

“I think…” She swallowed before trying again. “I think I want to go back to London now.”

“Go and get Hope, me and Sammy will take you to the airport and get you on the very next flight.” Dean paused for a moment before asking. “Want me to call anyone to pick you up at the airport?” 

“Arthur. Call Arthur.”

 


	23. Chapter 23

Ketch couldn’t remember the last time he felt so nervous. Even facing Lucifer, the stakes hadn’t felt so high. But then facing Lucifer, he had nothing to lose.

The moment Adriel left, he’d been worried. He knew she’d be after Abby, so when Dean called he’d been expecting the worst. What he got instead, was a message telling him to wait at the airport for the girls and to bring Mick.

Archie was beginning to get restless and couldn’t even focus on the supernatural book he’d brought, though it made Ketch smiled when he saw it was the signed first edition that Abby had sent for his birthday.

“When are they going to get here?” Archie whined.

“Any minute now.” Mick told him with a ruffle of the boy’s hair. As if on cue, Archie spotted them leaving their gate. He was gone in a flash and was instantly wrapped up in Abby’s arms.

“I missed you so much Abby.” He mumbled into her top. 

“I missed you too Archie.” Ketch stood back and watched, whilst Mick and Hope enjoyed their own reunion. After what felt to Ketch like an age, but was in reality not even a minute, Abby released Archie and turned to her boyfriend.

“Hey Arthur.”

“Hi Abby.” 

She held out for only a moment longer before she pulled him into a hug, burying her face in the crook of his neck. “I’m so sorry Arthur. I shouldn’t have left. When… when she… all I wanted was to be back here with you.”

“You don’t need to apologize, I’m sorry for not telling you. You had every right to be upset and I completely understand that you needed space.”

Abby nodded. Ketch could feel a wet patch forming on his shoulder and he held her tighter. “Please don’t ever let me leave like that again.”

“I won’t. I promise.” He placed a kiss on the top of her head and gently lead her back to the car whilst Mick and Hope collected the bags. It had been a long day and Abby needed to rest, they could talk about the rest later.

Once Archie went to bed, the four of them sat down to talk.

"So, I assume you have questions." Ketch said. "Whatever you ask, we will answer honestly."

"How long have you been fighting monsters?" Abby asked.

"We have always been part of the Men of Letters. My parents were part of it so I have been involved since before I could remember, and Mick joined when he started at Kendricks. The school was a lot different when we were students there." Ketch explained.

"Different how?" Hope questioned.

"That's hard to explain" Mick said. "But, I'll try. When we were children, they used extreme ways to keep us in line. Brainwashing and torture were commonplace techniques."

"Who would do that to a child?" Abby said disgusted.

"Her name was Dr. Hess. She's dead now. When we took over, we made sure that none of those things happened to kids anymore. We are teaching them in a safe environment." Mick told them.

"Good." Hope said. "How did she die?"

Mick and Ketch looked at each other in a moment of panic. They knew they would have to tell them, but we're concerned that they would think less of them once they do. 

"I did it." Ketch reluctantly told them. "Once she decided that someone was no longer useful to her, she had them killed. That was part of my job, I was a killer. I've lived in shadows for so long, over the years my eyes adjusted until the dark became my world and I could see. But when she ordered me to kill Mick, I couldn't do it. So I killed her instead."

"So you saved his life" Abby said. "And now no other children have to suffer."

"Yes, he did. Our evil stepmother is gone forever." Mick said.

"Evil stepmother?" Hope said, a little confused.

"None of us had real parents. Ketch's parents gave him away and turned their backs on him, and I don't have parents. So she raised us. We used to call her our evil stepmother."

"I can't believe anyone would treat children with so much cruelty." Hope said.

"We were the lucky ones. We survived." Ketch said. The girls looked at him confused. "A lot of children died before they could graduate. It was considered normal to have 'acceptable sacrifices' as they called it."

 


	24. Chapter 24

Mick and Ketch were just putting their jackets on to leave when Andrew stopped them on their way out. He was a nice welsh lad in his twenties with light brown curls and big blue eyes hidden behind Clark Kent style spectacles. But most importantly he was straight, meaning there was no chance of murdering their girlfriends. The perfect secretary… well… almost... “I just received a phone call from Ofsted. They want to do an inspection. On Monday.” That caused them both to falter.

“They what?” Mick asked.

“Inspection.” Andrew explained again.

“Your job is to stop them from coming around. It was the one thing that Shirl could actually do.” Ketch told him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say.” Andrew backed away, he could tell Ketch was annoyed with him and knew from personal experience that wasn’t a good place to be.

“It’s alright. We’ll call a staff meeting now.” Mick headed in the direction of the staff room and Ketch begrudgingly followed.

Luckily all the teachers were still in the staff room so they were able to discuss the issue and assign new classes to each of them.

They agreed that as the hunting teacher, Ketch would teach them games and Mick would teach religious studies as it was the closest on the National Curriculum to his own classes.

After the meeting, they headed back to Ketch’s flat to work on their lesson plans. It was only when the girls arrived for dinner that they remembered. It was supposed to be date night.

They let Abby and Hope in but before they had a chance to explain what was going on, they saw the lesson plans. “Is this what I think it is?” Abby asked with a grin on her face as she held up the sheet covered in her boyfriend’s handwriting. “When did you start offering normal lessons at Spy School?”

“We don’t.” Ketch plucked the sheet from her hand and sat down at the table again. “We have an inspection on Monday and didn’t fancy trying to explain why we weren’t following the National Curriculum.”

“You’re getting an Ofsted inspection?” Hope tried to hold back her giggles but unfortunately failed.

“Do you need any help with the lesson plans?” Abby was trying not to laugh as well, it was somewhat comical watching Mick and Ketch get so worked up over an inspection. It was clearly something they’d never had at the school before and whilst it was funny to watch them get worked up, they both knew it was important that they try to relieve as much stress from them as possible.

Their date night quickly dissolved into the girls spending the whole weekend trying, and failing, to catch the boys up on an entire secondary school education. They ended up working on it all weekend and come the Monday morning both were much happier and more confident in their plans. That is until they met the inspector in reception.

It went better than they’d expected but after Ketch had spent the whole day playing dodgeball and football with a load of teenagers, he was ready to kill Andrew. Mick was in a similar condition though had less violent ideas in mind.

The day after the inspection was the start of the exam period, and Ketch had to say he was not looking forward to that any more than he had been looking forward to Ofsted. “Sir.” Andrew popped his head around the doorway, messy curls falling in front of his thick rimmed glasses. “Your girlfriend’s here. She said you had a training session today?”

“Right, yes. I’m on my way.” That was just what he needed. He’d completely forgotten that Abby was coming by the school to learn some hunting skills today. He got up and headed towards the gym where Abby was waiting for him. She greeted him with a quick kiss before they got started. 

First he showed her the basics, the same sorts of things she’d have learnt in her self defence classes in the force. She grumbled a bit about being made to go over stuff she already knew but complied just the same. As it began to get a little more complex, a voice from behind him spoke.

“Wow, if all your students looked like that, I’d have helped out more often.” Ketch turned to face Gabriel but was being ignored in favour of the archangel staring at Abby. Ketch couldn’t exactly blame him, she was gorgeous. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of very tight leggings and a crop top that showed off her warding tattoos perfectly.

Abby looked the archangel up and down, taking in the sandy hair, whiskey coloured eyes and lollipop sticking out of his mouth. Just like he was described in the books. “You must be Gabriel. I thought you would be taller.”

“Size isn’t everything.” He told her with a wink. He noticed the glare he was receiving from Ketch and his grin got even bigger.

“Oh really?”

“Yup.” He told her, popping the p as he pulled the lolly from his mouth.

Abby was about to come up with a response when her phone started ringing. She ran over to her bag to answer it, only to find it was Hope. As she was talking, a boy entered the room and Gabriel noticed that Ketch instantly relaxed at the sight of him.

“I’ve got to go, big emergency at work. Bye sweetheart.” She kissed Ketch on the cheek. “And good luck Arch, you’ll be amazing.” She ruffled the boy’s hair and walked out. Gabriel and Ketch didn’t speak for the rest of the day. Gabriel snapped up the monsters, the kids fought them and Ketch wrote down their scores. As the final bell rang, Gabriel couldn’t take it anymore. 

Luckily for him though, Ketch spoke first. “Don’t you dare do that again, got it?” He growled, prodding Gabriel in the chest with each word. Gabriel nodded. He wasn’t exactly scared of Ketch, he could obliterate him in a heartbeat, but even he could tell he’d gone way too far this time. He waited for a moment for Ketch to cool down.

“I did see him by the way.” Gabriel said when the other man had calmed down enough to let him speak.

Ketch didn’t ask what he meant, he didn’t need to. “How is he?”

“He’s doing well, got a pretty girl he’s living with and he’s working at a school.” Ketch nodded morosely. Gabriel was about to suggest that Ketch should try visiting to see for himself but before he had the chance, the kid from earlier ran in.

“Daddy, can we go home yet?”

“In a minute Archie.”

“Hey, Archie. I’m Gabriel.”

“I know you! You’re the trickster in my book! You’re my favourite!” Archie exclaimed when he realised just who was stood in front of him.

“You’ve got good tastes.” Gabriel told him with a wink. 

“Can I have your autograph?” Archie asked eagerly, pulling out a copy of Tall Tales and thrusting it into Gabriel’s hands before he even had a chance to respond. Gabriel gladly signed the book and posed for a photo with his adorable young fan. Once that was done, Ketch clapped his shoulder in thanks. Whether for the help with the exams, what he did for Archie or the information he gave he couldn’t be sure. But somehow he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was all of the above.

 


	25. Chapter 25

“Abby? Where’s Archie?” Hope asked.

“He’s in the toy aisle, he wanted to find a friend for Davey the dragon.” Abby explained, picking up a pair of boots from the shelf she was looking at. No sooner had she picked them up than they heard a cry from the direction Archie had disappeared in. Dropping the boots, she ran towards the toy aisle, with Hope right behind her. As they rounded the corner they could see Archie sprawled on the floor with one hand to his eye and another over his mouth. Abby could see there was blood between his fingers. His mouth was obviously bleeding. An elderly couple were stood over the small boy, the man was shaking his hand out and she could see blood on his knuckles (whether Archie’s or his own she couldn’t be sure) and the woman was brushing herself down.

“What happened!?” Abby felt Hope’s hand on her arm as she began to see red. She didn’t know who these people were but they’d hurt Archie and needed to pay.

“Where did you get that!?” The woman spat back. Her eyes were just below Abby’s collar where her unicursal hexagram pendant sat.

“None of your business.” Abby snapped. “Where do you get off on hitting kids!?”

“He ran into my wife.” The man growled in a way that seemed scarily familiar to Abby.

“Well now you’re under arrest for Bodily harm and assault of a minor.” Before he had a chance to react, Hope had his hands cuffed behind his back. Abby cuffed the wife, she hadn’t necessarily done anything but she had stood there and let it happen. Whilst Hope took the couple out to the car, Abby knelt in front of the boy.

“How are you doing Archie?” Abby gently moved his hand away from his mouth and could see a tooth in his hand amidst the blood. “That’s alright, it’s only a baby tooth. Come on let’s get you to the station and give your dad a call.” She helped Archie to his feet and they were on their way out of the shop when a sales assistant ran up to them holding something.

“Excuse me, I saw what happened and I wanted you to take this.” She held out what was in her hands to Archie. It was a small fox cub cuddly toy. “Your son was going to bring you this when the incident happened.” Abby thanked her and the girl promised to come by the station later to give a statement.

“What are you going to name your new fox Archie?” Abby asked, climbing into the front of the police car and pulling Archie onto her lap. There wasn’t really room and it wasn’t exactly legal but there was no way she was letting him sit in the back with those psychopaths.

“Adam. His name’s Adam.” Archie muttered into Adam’s red fur as he held the cub close.

“That’s a great name for a fox.” Abby told him, holding Archie both to keep him safe on the car ride and to reassure herself that the boy was alright.

Abby reached around Archie to call in the incident to the station using the car radio before pulling out her own mobile phone. She knew her boyfriend would be at work doing some marking so she tried his office first, getting put quite quickly through to Andrew. “Hi Andrew, is Arthur there please? It’s really important.” Once she was put through she explained what had happened and explained that they were headed to the station, getting cut off mid-word as Ketch hung up to grab his coat and meet them there.

With Kendricks being closer to the station than the shopping centre, both Ketch and Mick were there when the girls arrived. “Daddy!” Archie ran over to his dad who pulled him into his arms straight away, relieved that he seemed to be alright. Archie was still holding his tooth and had blood down his chin where Abby hadn’t quite been able to get it all off with the wipes from her bag.

“I’m really sorry Arthur.” Abby approached the pair but kept her distance, feeling as if it was her fault for not looking after Archie and keeping her eye on him at all times.

“It’s not your fault.” He told her, pulling her into a hug with him, Archie and Adam the fox.

Hope came into the room just as Abby broke away. Before joining them, Hope had been putting the couple into a cell to be processed later. “Want me to take that tooth Archie? So the tooth fairy can come and get it later?” Archie nodded and gave Hope the tooth. She went over to her desk and used some tape to stick it to a post-it note for Archie to put in his pocket so it could go under his pillow later. At least it had only been a baby tooth, that in itself was a real blessing.

“I suppose we should deal with the prisoners now.” Abby had calmed down alot since they were brought in and now just seemed resigned to dealing with them. “Did you get the prints Hope?”

“Yeah they’re here.” She held up the two cards with 10 inky blobs on each. “Want to run them through the system first?”

“Yeah, they might have some sort of record already which would make our jobs a lot easier.”

Hope started on running their prints whilst Abby started filling in the paperwork about the incident. “Abby, you may want to look at this.” Abby glanced at the computer screen over her friend’s shoulder and all the colour drained from her face. She felt like she wanted to be sick as she read the list of crimes the couple in the cells had been arrested for over the years, all of which they’d gotten out of. Murder, grave desecration, and assault were just the tips of the iceberg.  “Are you going to tell him or would you like me to?” The last entries on their files discussed a court case where their maid was attempting to sue them for custody of their 6-year-old son who had received a lifetime of Abuse and Neglect at his parents’ hands. Their 6-year-old son named Arthur. It mentioned there were two other children involved in the case but didn’t give any further details. Much to Abby’s annoyance. 

“I’ll tell him. He should hear from me. Just… can you take Archie home? And send Arthur through?”

Hope nodded and left the room and before long, Ketch walked in looking more than a little confused. “What’s going on?”

“Sit down, we need to talk and I need you to stay incredibly calm.” Abby sat down opposite him, taking both his hands in hers.

“Abby, what’s going on?” He used his Headteacher tone this time. The one he usually reserved for naughty school kids who wouldn’t do as they were told first time of asking.

“We ran the prints of that couple we brought in… and… and your name came up in their files… Artie… it’s your parents.” Before Abby could even react, he’d pulled his hands from hers and was headed in the direction of the cells. Abby’s chair clattered to the floor in her rush to follow but by the time she arrived at the cells, Ketch already had hold of his father’s shirt. Pulling him forward so he was pressed against the bars that separated them.

“Don’t you dare touch my son again.” Ketch growled and in that moment Abby was reminded of back in the shop. She shook that thought off though, knowing it wouldn’t be helping matters.

“Your son too is he? That why this thieving bastard gave you his mother’s necklace?” Ketch’s father was surprisingly calm for someone in his position. “Who would have thought, a legacy and a commoner?”

“Don’t you dare speak to her like that.” Ketch jerked his father forward, causing him to bang his head on the bars. Abby knew she should really be doing something but she also knew the only way for Ketch to move past his lifetime of grievances was to get them out there. Better here in a controlled environment than out on the streets where he could get himself killed.

“It’s hardly a surprise he ended up like his no-good father, if he’s got some common slag as a mother.” Ketch broke his nose in one clean blow.

“Artie, that’s enough.” Abby stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ketch visibly relaxed but that was his big mistake. His father not only managed to break out of his grip but catch Abby by the chain of her necklace. It dug into her neck and began to cut off her oxygen supply. Ketch moved to help but as he took a step closer his father jerked Abby in much the same way he’d done earlier, causing her to bang her head and drops of blood began to form where the chain dug into her neck. After what seemed like an eternity, the chain snapped and the one thing holding Abby upright being gone, she crumpled to the floor. Torn between helping his girlfriend and hitting his father, Ketch elected to go for the former. He helped Abby up and ignored the profanities thrown his way as he helped her out of the room and back to her desk chair. If that encounter had taught him anything it was that Abby was far more important to him than any personal vendetta against his parents and they could certainly wait.

Abby and Hope were first in the next morning. They needed to feed the prisoners. Abby was putting toast in the toaster as she heard her friend scream.

Rushing through to the cells Abby saw the cause. The smell of blood was penetrating and it covered every possible surface. There were pieces of clothes and flesh littering the room. It looked like a dog had somehow broken in and torn the prisoners to shreds. It was that sudden realisation that broke Abby out of her overwhelming wave of nausea. Dogs. It was Hell Hounds.

“Come on, we need to phone the boys.” Abby told Hope, leading her away from the grisly sight and towards her desk phone. Picking up the phone, she dialled Ketch’s mobile from memory.

“What?” He grumbled sleepily, making Abby feel bad straight away. She had forgotten how early it was and although she knew it was important she wished she hadn’t had to wake him.

“Sorry Artie. But this is important. Hope and I came into work this morning to process your parents and… and they’re dead. It looks like Hell Hounds.”

Ketch had no idea what to say. He’d hated them all his life, certainly never loved them. So why did he feel sad that they were gone? Granted they were his parents but they’d never done anything but serve themselves. He realised it was probably related to the fact that he always thought they’d outlive God. Never thought he’d be the last person to hold his family name. Whilst he obviously had his son, he hardly counted because he was a Bevell in every way that mattered. He’d been raised a Bevell and Ketch would never ask him to give up his mother’s name for anything. But that realisation was harder hitting than he’s expected.

“Arthur? You alright?”

“Yes. Sorry. I’ll come down to the station now.”

“Could you pick up Mick on the way please? Hope’s pretty shaken.” Abby placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder who offered a weak smile in return. 

Not 10 minutes later, Mick and Ketch burst into the station. Mick making a beeline for Hope and enveloping her in a big hug. Ketch wrapped his arm around Abby’s waist and she led him through to the cells. She knew he needed to see it in order to fully believe it and whilst she didn’t want to see that again she also knew he’d need her support.

She was right, of course. It was nothing compared to some of the horrors he’d seen in the field but it was the way it hit so close to home that made him feel sick all of a sudden. He felt Abby’s hand in his, her fingers threading between his own. “Come on Artie. I need to call the coroner.” Ketch nodded and followed her out.

A couple of days later, Abby was round his place. She was sat on the rug, playing with Archie, Adam the Fox and Davey Dragon when the phone rang. Ketch went to answer it and after a few minutes hung up again.

“Who was that?” Abby asked from her place on the floor.

“My parents’ lawyer. He wanted to inform me that I was the sole beneficiary to their will. He wants me to check out the house and inform the staff.” He explained.

“Would you like us to come with you?” Abby already knew the answer before she asked but felt the need to anyway. The nod was all the confirmation she needed and between them, they bundled Archie into the car for the drive to the estate.

“I really don’t want to have to do this.” Ketch muttered more to himself than Abby as they sat in the car outside the… house wasn’t the right word. It was a mansion. An old fashioned, gothic mansion complete with gargoyles and grotesques.

“I know, but if we’re going to do anything with all of this stuff then we need to at least have a look around.” Archie had already run off to have a look around the grounds whilst he waited for Abby to talk his dad into going inside. Ketch finally agreed and they both got out, Abby proceeding to knock on the door.

The door was opened by a little old lady wearing a maid’s uniform. “Can I help you?” She asked, looking at the couple suspiciously.

“Greta?” Ketch spoke before Abby had a chance to explain why they were there.

“Young Master Arthur!” Before either of them had a chance to react, she’d enveloped him in a big hug that he couldn’t help but return rather awkwardly. Abby started laughing at how uncomfortable he looked as Archie ran over, holding something in his hands.

“Daddy! Abby! Look what I found!” Archie had a little frog in his hand that he’d obviously found in the pond on the edge of the grounds.

“That’s lovely Archie.” Abby knelt down to have a proper look, “Though he doesn’t look very happy. How about we take him back?” Archie nodded and took Abby to where he’d got the frog.

“He’s a lovely boy. What’s his name?” Greta asked Ketch when the two of them were left alone.

“Archibald Bevell, though we all call him Archie so you’re welcome to as well.”

“And the girl? Is she the Lady Bevell I’ve heard from your parents about?”

“No, that’s my girlfriend Abby. Toni died a little over a year ago. That’s how Archie ended up living with me.” He explained.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. And that poor boy, how awful it must have been for him to lose his mother. But I’m glad you found Abby. She seems to make you both happy.” Greta hugged him again and they both watched as Abby played tag with Archie. “You know, you could always live here with them. The staff have all missed you since you went to that awful place and never came back. It would be nice to have the laughter of a young boy around here again.” Ketch didn’t ask how she already seemed to know that his parents weren’t coming back. All the staff would have known that the only reason he ever would was because they were in the ground.

“I’ll think about it. There’s so many bad memories in this place, I don’t know if I could.”

“But the best way to get rid of the bad memories is to write over them with good ones.”

About 5 minutes later, Archie ran over. “I love it here. Can we move here Daddy?”

“We can…” Ketch paused to make sure Abby was in earshot for the next part. “If Abby moves in with us.”

“Yay!” Archie cheered, running off again, dodging Abby as she walked over to her boyfriend.

“Was that an invitation?” She asked coyly.

“Only if you want it to be.” She could tell he was really nervous about asking and closed the distance between them, pulling him into a kiss.

“I would love to move in with you Arthur.” She told him with a smile. The grin on his face was enough to erase any possible doubts she had that she’d made the right decision.

They were taken for a brief tour by Greta and went straight to Mick’s to tell him and Hope the good news. When they arrived, they let themselves in, only to find Mick sat at the table. Head in his hands. Hope was stood behind him, gazing wistfully out of the bay windows over the cemetery. 

“What happened?” Abby asked, sensing immediately that something was wrong.

“Mick just told me that he’s going to lose the flat. His landlord is selling.” Hope explained, not looking away from the window. As if the graveyard held all the answers she needed.

“I thought you said it was sorted and you had somewhere to live.” Ketch folded his arms, giving his friend his sternest head teacher gaze.

“I did. It fell through. From tomorrow I have to be gone.”

“You should have said something.” Ketch berated him, sitting down next to him at the table. “We could have helped.”

“We still could. The house is more than big enough for all of us.” Abby interrupted their conversation. Abby and Hope both knew there was no way Hope could afford a central London flat by herself. And they also both knew that their own landlord was in delicate health meaning they may have not been able to keep the place anyway. They’d discussed it enough times when they started dating the boys. “They could move in with us until they find a place of their own.”

Hope looked over at Mick who looked like he was about to disagree so she chose to speak up. “That sounds like a brilliant idea. Temporarily of course.” She moved closer to Mick and to punctuate her point, she placed her hands on his shoulders. As much to reassure herself as him.

Once they finished sorting out the logistics, they had time to celebrate the next step in all of their relationships. Archie had vanished to the study to play on Mick’s computer the moment they arrived and didn’t appear again until it was time to leave, allowing the adults to drink without feeling bad for doing so in front of the impressionable young boy.

 


	26. Chapter 26

“Hope, I’m fine. It’s a basic robbery. I’ll deal with it.” Abby told her friend as she entered the shop. Hanging up the phone she approached the owner. “Mrs Stinson? You called about a break in?”

The elderly woman turned to look at her. “Oh hello dearie. Yes I did. Unfortunately I brought you here under false pretences.”

Before Abby had a chance to react, a man stepped out from the shadows and restrained her. She tried to fight him off but he was too strong. 

“Unfortunately my dear boys have all lost their girlfriends and Cameron here seems to like you.” As she spoke, Abby could see fangs descending. 

“You’re a vampire.” Abby realised with horror. She’d walked straight into the middle of a hunt. 

“Yes I am Dearie and soon you will be too.”

Cameron had used his own teeth to rip his wrist open and held the bleeding appendage against Abby’s mouth. She kept her mouth tightly shut, desperate not to allow the blood to enter but when she felt a heel stamp down and shatter her foot she cried out in pain. Allowing the blood to flow into her mouth. 

The first she was aware of the fact they had company was when she saw the woman’s head separated from her shoulders. Abby could just make out her boyfriend before she lost consciousness. 

When she woke up in her own bed, she sat bolt upright. She could remember everything that happened and ran her hands over herself to ensure she wasn’t injured, but even her foot was already healed. 

She heard the door open slowly and looked up to see her boyfriend in the doorway. As he took a step forward she edged away from him. 

“Abby?” She could see the hurt in his eyes but she didn’t do anything to comfort him. She wasn’t sure what she was more scared of, herself being a monster and hurting him or him hurting her because she was a monster. Sensing this, he stopped and spoke from his position halfway to the bed. “We have a cure that Sam and Dean sent us. You should be fine now.”

Abby nodded, not looking up at him. She didn’t even look up when she heard him leave and someone else entered instead. 

“Abby, can we talk?” Mick asked from the doorway. 

“I guess.” He entered the room and closed the door. 

“Abby, I know what happened scared you but you’re really hurting Ketch.”

“But I was a monster... I was a monster and they were monsters and he...” she couldn’t think of how to continue that thought but Mick seemed to understand nonetheless. 

"We're all of us monsters. We've committed countless atrocities over the years. But he only ever does those things for the people he loves, and that's why he's the best of all of us." Abby paused, she hadn’t thought of it like that. He had gone out of his way to protect her and even cured her when killing her would have been so much easier. 

“Mick, could you get Arthur for me please?”

“My pleasure.” When mick left she could hear conversations outside the door before Ketch finally entered. 

He chose to stay by the door this time, until Abby patted a spot on the bed next to her. Taking the hint he came and sat on the edge of the bed. “How did you know I was there?”

“I didn’t.” He answered honestly. “We were already on the case and got lucky.” He paused before speaking again. “You’re taking this better than I expected.”

“I’m really not. I’m unbelievably freaked out and there’s such a huge difference between knowing and seeing what you do but... I know how much you love me and if you wouldn’t kill me as a vampire then I don’t believe you’d ever hurt me.” Abby explained, shifting to rest her head on his shoulder. 

“I’ll never hurt you Abby. I promise.”

 


	27. Chapter 27

“What are you doing?” Ketch asked as he stood in the doorway of his office. Andrew was off on his lunch break so Abby and Hope had decided to take over with Hope sat in his chair and Abby on his desk.

“We’re playing secretary whilst your actual secretary is on a break.” Abby replied with a wink. He rolled his eyes with a smile on his face and retreated back into his office.

The girls continued to chat about anything and everything they could think of until a woman approached the desk. “Can we help you?” Hope asked and Abby turned around to get a proper look at her. Although they’d never actually met, a single glance and Abby knew exactly who she was.

“You… But… you’re…” Abby wasn’t completely sure what she was trying to say but whatever it was she was definitely struggling. To be fair to her, it wasn’t everyday a dead woman walked in. Not in her profession anyway. She swallowed and started again. “I presume you’re here to see your son.” Toni nodded, she didn’t know who this woman was but she clearly knew who Toni was and her reaction wasn’t a good sign. “I’ll ask Arthur what class he’s in.”

She slipped into the office and closed the door behind her, leaning heavily against it. Ketch could tell there was something wrong. All the colour had drained from her face and she looked as if she’d seen a ghost, which in a way she had.

“Your ex just walked in.” She explained. Ketch was about to ask what she meant when it hit him. She looked as if she’d seen a ghost and she must have thought she had.

He nodded and she moved away from the door, following him out. “So, this is where you got to that night.”

“It’s my last night on Earth, I wanted to make sure my son was alright.” Ketch glanced at both Abby and Hope but it was obvious that neither of them had told her. Toni always was too bright for her own good.

“I’ll take you to see him.” Ketch told her, he’d already taken a step forward when he felt a hand on his wrist. He looked questioningly at Abby.

“No, I’ll take her.” Ketch nodded. He could see from the look on her face that Abby needed to do this. It was important to her that, if she were to ever feel like she could be part of their family she needed Toni’s approval.

Ketch placed a kiss on her cheek and headed back into his office, giving her all the permission she needed. “Come on, he’s in Mick’s class.”

“So how long have you two been together?” Toni asked, a hint of jealousy plain in her demeanour.

“I’m sorry, but can we not please? This is really difficult for me to get my head around.”

“Of course.” They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the classroom. Toni was overwhelmed by emotion at the sight of her son but as she reached for the handle, Abby stopped her. Mick had just asked a question and Archie obviously knew the answer because his hand had shot up. Toni was so busy watching her son that she didn’t notice when Mick’s eyes flicked in her direction and back, pretending he hadn’t seen her at all.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Abby told her. “He was so upset when you died, I don’t think he could handle losing you again.”

Abby wasn’t sure what reaction she expected, to be hit or have a gun pulled on her probably. She certainly didn’t expect to be hugged. “I’m glad he’s got another mum to look after him.”

They stayed like that for a moment until Toni pulled away. “I should be going, Gabriel said I only had twenty minutes. Tell Archie… I don’t know… Just… tell him I love him.” Abby nodded, they both knew that Archie would never know that Toni had ever been there but for now the lie would be enough. It would have to be. Toni knew she was going to her death but for Archie she’d die a thousand times over. As long as he was happy, it was worth it.

When Toni had left, Abby went to find Ketch. It didn’t take long because she knew exactly where he’d be. In the memorial garden with a cigarette in hand.

Abby didn’t really know what to say so she just sat down on the bench next to him, looking at the memorial wall in front of them. He put his left arm around her waist, she rested her head on his shoulder and there they stayed. Nobody spoke until he finished his cigarette. “I take it she’s gone back then.” Abby just nodded. “What did Archie say?”

“He doesn’t know. We didn’t want to upset him more than necessary so she saw him but he didn’t see her. I’m pretty sure Mick saw her at the window though.”

“I almost wish she hadn’t had to go back, so Archie could have his mum back.” Abby didn’t know what to say to that. She felt as if she’d been stabbed in the heart. In Toni’s easy acceptance of her as Archie’s new mum she’d forgotten that not everyone felt the same.

Ketch either hadn’t realised what he’d said or didn’t realise how much it had hurt his girlfriend because he proceeded to make it worse by saying, “Every boy should have a mum after all.”

“Yeah… anyway… I should… um… I should be going…” As she got up to leave, Ketch realised exactly what he’d said.

“Abby, I didn’t mean-“

“Don’t. I know exactly what you meant.” With that, she left to find Hope. Wanting to get out of there before he put his foot in it more.

Given what happened, Ketch wasn’t remotely surprised to get back after school and find Hope waiting on the sofa for him. “What did you do?” She asked, arms folded across her chest and looking rightfully furious.

“Archie, how about you go and get started on your homework.” Ketch ruffled the boy’s hair and he ran off, not liking the vibe in the room at all. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

“What did you do?” She asked again. Ketch told her everything and Hope got more worked up the more he told her. “You idiot! Of course, that would upset her!!”

“I didn’t think she wanted to be Archie’s mum. I thought she just wanted them to be friends.”

“That’s what she told Archie so he wouldn’t be scared off! Of course, she wants to be his mum! Do you really think she’d still be here if she didn’t love Archie as much as she loves you!? Get up there and talk to her right now!”

Ketch complied and found Abby in their room. She was sat in the middle of the bed with tear streaks down her face and an ice-cream pot in her hands. It had only been a ¼ eaten but even from the doorway he could see it was now more soup than ice-cream. She didn’t take any notice of him as she stared into the pot and continued to stir the contents of the pot.

“I’m really sorry Abby.”

“Why did you say it?” She still couldn’t bring herself to look up. “I thought we were getting somewhere. I thought we were building something. I thought… I thought we might be a family.”

“We are a family. Abby, I only said what I did because I honestly didn’t know if you actually wanted the job. I knew how well you and Archie got on but I didn’t think that necessarily meant you wanted to be his mum. I didn’t think about the implications of my wording until after I had said it. I’m so sorry Abby.” As he’d been speaking, his confidence slowly grew and he moved closer towards her. As he finished he sat on the bed and pulled her towards him. She went slightly reluctantly, dropping her ice-cream in the process. “I never meant to hurt you Abby. I promise.” Abby nodded into his shoulder and finally hugged him back. They both knew this would take a little time to get past, but the important thing was that now they both knew they would.

They had been in the house for a week now but being there again, sleeping under that roof, was beginning to affect him. If it were just dreams of his parents, he could handle that. But not this. Not her. His sister Faye was haunting his dreams.   
They had always been so different. To look at, she was the female version of him. But in every other way they were nothing alike. For one thing, their parents adored her. She was everything they wanted in a child. She was violent and she obeyed them. 

Where he cried and begged his parents to stop when they tried to make him kill, she relished in taking as much life as possible. She had always been what he inevitably became when he was forced to do the unfathomable. Her viciousness was so extreme he knew if she wanted to, she would kill him. She told him that over and over.

But then there were moments in this very house, when their parents left them with the servants, that he saw some tiny piece of humanity that remained. They would play together and read together. There were times when he did love his sister. Which made what he had to do, so much worse. He woke screaming from the memories of her. Abby was startled awake by him.

"Arthur, what is it?" She asked, alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He said dismissively. He didn't want her to think less of him by telling her about what he did.

"You need to talk about it. This has been happening since we moved in. Just talk to me." Abby pleaded.

"I can't." He sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." She responded.

He knew he wasn't going to win this, so he gave in. If she hated him after what he had to say, he told himself he deserved it. "I have to show you something first." He stood up and she followed him out of the room. He walked to the other side of the house, which he had so far refused to go near, and opened the door at the end of hall. The two of them stepped inside and he switched on the light. It was exactly how he remembered. It was like a shrine to Faye.

"Arthur, what is this?" She said, looking at the stuffed animals that had been purposely torn apart, the dolls laid out to depict a murder. It was all quite gruesome and disturbing.

"This was her room. My sister. Faye." That was the first time he'd said her name since it happened. He'd tried so hard to forget she ever existed.

"You have a sister?" Abby was confused. How could she not know about this? That’s when she remembered. There was more than one child involved in the custody case. 

"I had a sister. We were both sent away to Kendricks. I made it out, she didn’t."

"That's awful. I'm sorry." She said, assuming she had died in some terrible accident.

"You don't understand. Before you can graduate from Kendricks, they would stick two people in a room with a weapon. Only one comes out. I didn't want to hurt her, really I didn't, but she would have killed me. She was always a killer, just look at this place. I had no choice."

The memory replayed in his head. Hess took them to the room covered in plastic, a knife laying on the desk. He knew what was about to happen. As a legacy, he knew what the final test was. He just never knew that it would be his sister.

_ Hess left and he picked up the knife. Faye laughed behind him. "Don't kid yourself Arthur. You don't have what it takes to use that weapon. Just hand it over and I'll end it quickly for you." She was lying. He knew she was. She always taunted him about how she would make his death as painful as possible, and that was before all of this. His hand shook as he lifted the knife, but he gripped it so tight to make sure she couldn't take it away from him. He wasn't ready to die yet. _

_ "I won't let you kill me." He told her. He sliced her throat and she bled out quickly. When it was over, he sat on the ground next to her and cried. He was grateful that nobody was around so he could compose himself before leaving the room. Since that day, he never thought of her again. He buried the memories, even the good ones. When he walked out, Hess was shocked to see it was him. Like all the other men of letters, his parents included, she preferred Faye. But seeing the dead look in his eyes as he walked out covered in the blood of his kin, she saw potential. _

_ "Well done Mr. Ketch. I believe you will prove quite valuable to us." The smile she gave him sent chills down his spine. _

He told Abby everything. When he was done, she hugged him. It wasn't his fault, not really. They didn't give him any other choice but to die. He clung to her as if his life depended on it. "It's not your fault." She told him.

"How could you say that? I killed my sister. Of course it's my fault."

"No, it's the Men of Letters that made you do that. If it weren't for that test, you would never have hurt her. They are to blame for what happened, not you. You were just a child."

He sat down on the bed, looking around at the room. "You go back to bed. I'll be okay, I just need a minute." He said.

"Are you sure?" Abby asked, still concerned about him.

"Yes. I just need to be alone in here for a little while. I promise I'll be okay." He assured her. She reluctantly left to give him a little space. Even in all the years since, he had never come to terms with Faye's death. He needed to do that now. As he sat there, one particular memory came to mind. As twisted and cruel as she was, she liked to read. He remembered coming into her room for some company when they were alone, and for the first time in their lives instead of shouting at him to go away she let him sit with her. She read him the hobbit.

He went to the bookshelf and picked up the hobbit. It's only now he remembered why he loved the story so much. It was then that he saw the other book wedged behind it. He picked it up and recognised it immediately. It was one of his mother's journals. He couldn't understand why she would hide it here. 

He paused for a moment before opening it. He needed to know. He skimmed through the journal, not finding anything of interest. Mostly talking about how much she missed Faye and how resentful she was of Ketch for killing her. That is until he got to a few pages before the end. He froze when he saw Toni’s name. He continued reading and saw how it detailed the deal they’d made. Slamming the book shut, he went to find Abby.

“The deal was for Archie.”

“What?” Abby asked sleepily.

“My parents. They made the deal so Archie would be born.”

“How did you find that out?” Abby asked, sitting up in bed to look at him.

“It was in my mother’s journal. But that’s not the worst part… the deal was for him to be psychic.”

 


	28. Chapter 28

Archie walked in as Ketch, Mick and the girls were packing his things from his room. "What's going on? Are we going somewhere?" He asked.

"Archie, come and sit with me for a minute. We need to talk" Ketch said, sitting down on the bed and Archie sat next to him. "I have arranged for you to go and stay with Tom and his parents for a little while."

Archie was worried that Ketch didn't want him anymore. "Please don't send me away. I promise I won't ever use my powers." He begged.

"It's not about that. This isn't a punishment, I'm trying to protect you. These powers put you at risk. There are people who will want to hurt you or worse if they knew about what you can do." He left out the part about him being one of those people. He was so scared that his conditioning would overtake him and he would hurt Archie. "I need you to trust me when I say that this is what's best for you right now."

"I don't want to leave." Archie said.

"I know, but it's only for a little while" Ketch reasoned. "You will get to have fun with your friend, and as soon as I know that you will be safe you can home again."

Archie still hated the idea but he knew there wasn't much choice, so instead he helped pack his things and before they knew it Tom's parents arrived. They all loaded everything into the car, said their goodbyes and waved as the car pulled away.

"Are you okay?" Abby asked Ketch, taking his hand.

"No. But Archie's safety is all that matters right now. Even if that means he has to stay as far away from me as possible." Ketch responded before he walked away for a cigarette. Abby tried to follow him, but Mick stopped her telling her that it's best to leave him alone when he's like that. When he came back inside he poured himself a drink and that's what he did for the rest of the night, trying to distract himself from how quiet the house was without Archie.

The next morning, Ketch woke early and immediately started looking for a case. He needed something, anything, to keep him occupied. Within the hour he had found something. There were multiple cases of massacres, all committed by different people over the last few weeks in the same town not too far from them.

He woke Mick and they left together, Ketch filling him in on the way. He was just glad to have something to focus on. None of the people who had committed the massacres had any prior record of violent behaviour. After searching all day, they finally found a link in the case. They had all visited the same house just before they snapped. Ketch's patience was running out, so even though they had no clue what they were up against, he walked right up to the house instead of staking it out first.

"What are you doing?!" Mick questioned angrily. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ketch just ignored him and walked straight through the door. Mick tried to follow but it slammed shut in his face and he couldn't open it.

Ketch walked right up to the woman inside and started shooting her. She didn't even flinch. "Oh dear. A hunter like you should know better than to come into a witches home unprepared." With a wave of her hand, he was on his knees and unable to move. "There's so much darkness in you. The others didn't have much there for me to work with. One little killing spree is all I could get from any of them. But you? We could have so much fun together. All you need to do is embrace who you really are, and I can help you with that." She placed her hands on his face and whispered an incantation that he didn't recognise. There was a flash of blue light and she let go. "There, I've given you a gift. Your darkness will take over, and as it does you will kill without mercy. The more lives you take, the faster your friend and the women in your lives will die. I'm freeing you from that burden that holds you back from reaching your full potential."

"NO!" Ketch yelled. If he could move, he'd have beaten her to death by now.

"Shh don't worry. Once you leave here, you won't even remember this little chat. When they are all dead, I will find you and you can join me. I can give you more power than you can imagine." She unlocked the door, used her magic to knock Mick unconscious and walked away without a scratch.

Once he could move again, Ketch ran to check on Mick. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the door, he couldn't remember why they were there or what happened to Mick. He looked around trying to figure out what is going on, but it was no use. He carried Mick to the car and drove them home. As they pulled up the car in front of the house, Mick woke up.

"Ketch? Why are we in the car?" Mick asked.

"I'm not sure. The last thing I remember is waking up this morning." They were both troubled by the gaps in their knowledge, but agreed to get some sleep and discuss it the next day. The girls were both already asleep on the sofa. They had tried to stay up, but had both fallen asleep so the guys carried them up to bed. It didn't take long for Mick and Ketch to fall asleep too.

Ketch looked around. He knew he was only dreaming, but he remembered this day so clearly. And this dream was making him relive it in gruesome detail. Ketch was only six years old, and his father handed him a machete. In front of him was a vampire who was beaten and chained up.

"Chop it's head off son." His father told him. "Kill it. Now."

"But father, he has suffered enough. Why can't we just let him go?"

"I don't think so" he said, punching his son in the face. "It's a monster. It deserves to die." He hit him again and Arthur fell down, so he started kicking him.

"Father, please stop." Arthur gasped between strikes.

"You are nothing but a weak coward, and you will never be strong until you learn to endure pain." His father said with hatred in his voice.

"I'll do anything you want, just stop this." Arthur pleaded.

His father knelt beside him and grabbed him by the throat. "You're begging me now? That shows just how pathetic you are boy. You have been nothing but a disappointment from the moment you were born. I'll show you what it takes to be strong."

His father started torturing the vampire, and with every slice of the blade the vampire screamed. Arthur tried closing his eyes and covering his ears to make it stop, but that made his father angry and he hit him again.

By the time it was over, the vampire was dead and Arthur was crying on the ground covered in his own blood and had bruises forming everywhere. His mother had been there the whole time, just watching and not making a move to help him.

Ketch woke, gasping for breath and checked himself for any signs of injury. There was nothing, it was just a bad memory. Abby was still sleeping next to him so he went outside to get some air and not wake her. Ketch closed his eyes and took a deep breath and when he opened them again to see his father standing in front of him.

"What's happening? You can't be here, you're dead." Ketch said, still in shock.

"Yes you're right. I'm just a memory but that doesn't mean I can't still get into your head."

"Why is this happening?" Ketch asked, more to himself than his father.

"Because you are surrounded by weakness and it's affecting you. You forgot everything I taught you. Caring about others only gives you someone to loose, you know that. Just kill them and get it over with. You know they will die soon enough anyway just because they care about you."

"I will never hurt them" Ketch insisted.

"You will. But if you refuse, there are other ways. Do you really think yours is the only head I can get inside? I will make that boy of yours kill them instead, it's about time he got some blood on his hands. Maybe he will be less of a disappointment than you were."

Ketch grabbed him and pinned him against the wall. "I won't let you near him." He said and snapped his neck. He let go and was about to go inside when he heard laughter coming from behind him. He turned and his father was stood there grinning.

"I'm already dead, you can't get rid of me so easily. But it looks as though you are doing what you are told, whether you want to or not." He looked down at the body and saw that it was Mick dead at his feet. Ketch fell to his knees beside him. This couldn't be happening, he wouldn't kill Mick.

It was too much, he couldn't handle it, so he went back inside and started drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. He wasn't sure how long he sat there but he couldn't bring himself to move. 

"A bit early for that isn't it mate?" Ketch froze in shock for a second before turning to see Mick standing there alive and well. "At least put it in your coffee or something." He continued.

Ketch just stood up, walked over to him and hugged him. He didn't even care if this was real, he had never been happier to see Mick in his life as he was in that moment. Mick laughed. "How many drinks have you had?" He asked.

"You're alive" was all Ketch said, almost as though he was reassuring himself, as he pulled away.

"What? Of course I'm alive. Are you alright?" Mick asked, starting to get really concerned.

"I saw.. I mean I thought I saw... You die." Ketch told him.

"Ketch, it was probably just a bad dream. I'm alive, so it wasn't real." Mick reasoned.

"No, it wasn't a dream. I know I was awake. I think someone is messing with my head, that's why I'm seeing things. It's not just you, I saw my father. Something must have happened yesterday."

"If it did, I will find a way to fix it." Mick promised him.

Over the next couple of days, the hallucinations became more intense. Mick tried, he searched everywhere for something that could reverse whatever was happening to his friend, but had found nothing.

In the meantime, Ketch saw himself killing everyone that matters to him, he felt their blood on his hands. And it was over and over again. He was afraid that he would hurt them, so until a solution could be found he avoided Mick and the girls to protect them. He shut himself off from them completely and they were really getting worried about him.

"What are we going to do?" Abby asked. "He won't talk to me. Everytime I try he walks away."

"I don't know. I want to help him, but he thinks he's a danger to us." Mick responded.

"That's ridiculous, he wouldn't hurt us." Abby said.

"I know he wouldn't, not intentionally. But he is not in a good place right now. His hallucinations are taking over. He's not himself."

"All the more reason to help him" Abby demanded.

"You think I don't want to? What do you think I've been trying to do?" Mick questioned.

"Alright, that's enough." Hope intervened. "We are all worried about him, but there's not a lot we can do until we find whoever or whatever did this to him."

They went to check on him, but he wasn't there. They started searching for him, but it looked like he had been gone for a while. Mick went back to the school to go through men of letters archives and see if there was anything he'd missed, and the girls stayed behind in case Ketch came back.

He found a brief mention of a witch who used her powers to force people to act on their darkest impulses by making them hallucinate their worst nightmares. That sounded like the right lead, but there was a big problem. There was no known cure for her magic. He knew the cause, but still had no way to save Ketch.

On the drive home, he started to feel ill. The weakness and exhausting hit him so hard he almost crashed the car. It took all of his strength to stay conscious long enough to get back home. When he eventually got inside, his nose and eyes were bleeding and everything was starting to spin.

"Hope? Abby?" He called but they didn't answer. He stumbled but kept walking, looking for them. He found them in the kitchen, collapsed on the floor. "No! Wake up." He begged. "Please. I need you to get up now."

They didn't respond. He knelt down beside them and checked for a pulse. They were alive, but barely.

When Ketch left, he was trying to keep them safe. He wandered through the street, not really sure of where he was going. It didn't matter, as long as he was away from them.

He kept walking and as he did, his father came back to taunt him. He knew it wasn't real but he was getting angrier by the second.

"You are a killer. You can't fight it, and you will end up killing them all. I bet you've already thought about it. You'll rip your son apart, and enjoy every moment. Even while he screams you will have fun and laugh at his weakness."

"Stop." Ketch said with fury. "You're wrong. I couldn't hurt my son."

"Yes you could. He's a psychic, you have been trained to kill him. And you want to."   
Ketch fired his weapon. It took a moment for him to realise what he'd just done. It wasn't his father, of course it wasn't, it was an innocent person. Hallucination or not, he'd killed someone that was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There were other people around who had witnessed the entire thing. Him talking to himself and killing the woman that now lay at his feet. If there was one part of his training that he still believed in, it was don't leave any witnesses. So he had no choice but to open fire. He dragged the bodies out of the street and into a back alley where nobody would find them.

Archie knew that something was wrong. He didn't know what exactly, he just knew his family was in danger. There was no way to help them from Tom's house, so he left in the middle of the night and took Tom's bike to get home.

When he got there, the lights were on but the house seemed too quiet. There was something not quite right. He went inside and called out to his dad, but didn't get a response. Archie was starting to worry now, so he went looking for anyone. He found Mick sat on the floor in the corner of the kitchen with his head in his hands.

"Uncle Mick? Are you okay?" He asked.

Mick looked up and Archie saw him properly for the first time. He was pale, sweating and had blood coming from his eyes. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe." Mick said. "Please Archie, you have to go."

"What's happening to you?" Archie could barely believe what he was seeing.

"Where's daddy?" He said panicked.

"I don't know. Abby and Hope are sick too, and I haven't seen your dad. He's not in the house." Mick looked down at where the girls still lay, and Archie saw them for the first time. Like Mick, they had blood coming from their eyes and noses.

He knew he needed to find his dad, but the only way he could do that was using his powers. If he concentrated, he could find him since they shared a bond in blood. 

He focused and he could sense where to go. Before he could convince himself not to, he ran out of the house and rode Tom's bike in the direction his dad was. He eventually found him, but didn't see what he was expecting to find. His dad wasn't sick, he was surrounded by dead bodies, and the blood that covered him was definitely not his. Archie could tell that he killed those people because of a spell that was cast on him. There was magic radiating from him, he could feel it. He gathered all the bodies into one pile, poured petrol on them and lit them on fire.

Archie had to get through to him. He knew enough about how magic worked to know that his dad was still in there somewhere, he just had to make him snap out of it. He used his powers to project himself into his dad's mind to talk to the part of him that was trapped and fighting to get control.

"Daddy?" Archie said to him. "You're under a spell and it's hurting uncle Mick, Abby and Hope."

"I know." Ketch said, exhausted. "I tried to fight, but it's no use."

"You can't give up. If you do then I lose everyone. Please, keep fighting. You can do this. I'll help you."

"It's useless boy. You can't help him." A woman said from behind him.

"Who are you? Why are you in my daddy's head?" Archie asked.

"I'm the one doing this to him of course." She said with a grin.

"I won't let you hurt him" Archie said. She laughed.

"Oh you poor child. You actually believe you can stop me."

"I can and I will." He said. She fell to her knees screaming in pain, bleeding just like Mick and the girls. He was using his powers to force her to feel the pain she was making them feel and amplifying it a thousand time over. She kept bleeding until it killed her.

Ketch woke up and Archie was out of his head. "I killed her" was all he could say. Archie was terrified of the power he had inside him. "I'm so sorry daddy. I promised never to use my powers and now I broke it. I'm a monster. I deserve to be killed. You can kill me, I'm not human." Archie said and started crying. It broke Ketch's heart to see his son like this.

"Archie listen to me for a minute. I'm going to tell you something important that I should have told you a long time ago. Before I met you, it's true, I was an uncaring cruel man who enjoyed the terror I inspired in others. But from the moment I saw you, all I wanted was to worthy of being your father. You are the most important person in my life, without you i would be consumed by darkness all over again. Don't ever think that there is anything even remotely monstrous about you, or that I would ever want to hurt you. I'd rather die than let any harm come to you, and that will never change." Ketch told him. "Besides, you did nothing wrong. You saved me, and that proves how good you are. I couldn't fight that spell, and I was hurting people. By helping me, you saved me, uncle Mick, Abby and Hope. You are not a monster Archie, you're a hero." 

Ketch put his arm around Archie. "Come on, let's go home." They got back to the house and Ketch made Archie wait while he went and checked on Mick and the girls. They were all out of pain and feeling much better. It was early morning now, the sun was coming up, so Ketch called Tom's mum.

"Hello?" She said as she answered.

"Hello, this is Archie's dad. I'm sorry to call so early, but I wanted to let you know that he got a bit upset last night and came home. I didn't want you to worry and think that he'd gone missing." Ketch told her.

"Thanks for letting us know. Do you want us to come and pick him up again?" She offered.

"No, I think it's best that he stays home now. Thank you so much for looking after him, but he wants to stay here. He did take Tom's bike to get here, so if you wanted you could come and collect it." Ketch told her and she agreed to do that. They ended the conversation and hung up.

"I can really stay?" Archie said from behind him.

"Yes. I shouldn't have sent you away, I was just worried about you. I realise now that you can look after yourself. So of course you can stay here, this is your home."

That day, they all decided that they needed to stay home together just in case of any lasting side effects. It was the last day before they returned back to school after half term, and the girls called in sick so they could stay with them. The girls weren't completely lying, they were still recovering, but their bosses wouldn't believe them if they said they were healing from the effects of an evil witch's curse.

After some much needed rest, they spent the whole of the rest of the day together. It was so nice just having them all under one roof again, it felt more like home.

The following day, everything went back to normal. Archie was back at school and the adults were back at work. Ketch kept a close watch on Archie throughout the day. He was worried about him. It had been a rough time for him. He found out he had powers, had to leave and came back only to have to save all of them. It was a lot for a kid to take, but he seemed to be handling it quite well.

By the time they made it back home, they were all exhausted. Abby and Hope got back not long after, and they all sat down to eat together.

"How was work?" Mick asked them after they'd finished eating. Archie had left the room to read, so it was just the adults.

"It was awful. We were brought in to help investigate a homicide. Multiple bodies were found in an alleyway, all of them charred like someone tried to burn them." Hope told him, her voice filled with disgust.

Ketch tensed up. They were the bodies of the people he killed when the witch cursed him. He left them there, didn't even make sure there was nothing left. How could he be so reckless? What should he do now? Should he confess? All these questions were racing in his mind, he couldn't think straight. Who could he tell? Mick. He'd confess to Mick. He'd made a promise to him that if he ever hurt anyone else, he'd tell Mick first. He waited until the girls left the room, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to what they were saying anymore, before he told Mick anything.

"Mick, I have to tell you something." Ketch started.

"I know it was you Ketch." Mick told him. Ketch just stared at him in shock. "Do you really think I wouldn't be able to tell when you're feeling guilty?"

"Honestly? No I didn’t." Ketch responded. Mick smiled reassuringly at him.

"It’s not your fault. You don't have to feel guilty, you were under a spell."

"What am I supposed to do now? Mick, I killed those people. The police are investigating." Ketch was panicking a little. He'd never left evidence behind before.

"I can help close the case." Abby said from the doorway. Ketch jumped.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"I was in the next room and the door was open, I heard everything. Mick's right, it wasn't your fault. It'll be alright, I'll fix it." 

He crossed the room and hugged her. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" He kissed her, and Mick decided that was his cue to leave. That night Ketch showed her how grateful he was.

 


	29. Chapter 29

Abby couldn’t help pacing. Ketch had left for a hunt in the early hours of the morning but the clock was slowly ticking towards midnight and he still wasn’t home. She’d sent Archie to bed several times but he couldn’t sleep until his dad got home, not that Abby could really blame him. It was nerve wracking every time Ketch went on a hunt and he always came back… different. She’d never seen what he’d been like before they met but this is what she imagined. The sound of the front door slamming open made her jump.

“Arthur! Keep the noise down!” He just glared at her as he placed a cigarette in his mouth and went straight for the liquor cabinet. As he was about to reach into the cabinet, she slammed the door shut and narrowly missed his fingers. “Don’t you dare! You’ve been gone all day! I’ve been worried sick and you couldn’t even be bothered to call!” She didn’t even realise she’d tried to smack him until her wrist was pinned to the wall behind her.

“Wanna try that again sweetheart?” Abby was suddenly extremely aware of just how close they’d become. She tried to come up with a comeback but her mind went completely blank and her breath caught in her throat. Before she could even decide whether this situation was more hot or terrifying, she heard a voice from the doorway.

“No! Don’t hurt Abby!” Suddenly Archie was there, squeezing himself into the microscopic space between them in an attempt to pull them apart.

Something about Archie’s presence seemed to pull Ketch out of his trance, causing him to stumble back a few steps, a look of pure horror on his face.

“Archie, how about you go and get a glass of water for your dad. Can you do that for me please?” Abby asked the boy, not taking her eyes off her boyfriend. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Archie nod and run in the direction of the kitchen. Abby waited until Archie had left the room before closing the distance between her and Ketch, wrapping her arms around him as the reality of what just happened began to settle in his mind.

She could see over his shoulder when Mick poked his head around the doorframe but she just shook her head and waved him off. It shouldn’t have surprised her that when Archie was upset his first response was to go wake Mick, a fact made obvious by the not even remotely subtle bedhead.

He nodded and headed in the direction of the kitchen, leaving her to deal with Ketch alone. “Hey, it’s ok. How about you come and sit down for a moment.” She gently guided him over to the sofa where he all but collapsed. “You alright now?”

“Yes, I think so. I’m so sorry. I must have scared you both so much.”

“I’m fine, you might want to check on Archie though.” Abby didn’t fail to notice that Ketch was deliberately ignoring eye contact as he got up to go and find where Archie had vanished to. When she heard footfall on the stairs, Abby went to find Mick in the kitchen.

“What happened?” He asked the moment she entered the room.

Abby didn’t respond at first, just sat down at the kitchen table and sighed. “He had another episode. It’s my own fault. I was worried and cornered him as he came in from a hunt. Emotions were running high for both of us, it’s not really his fault.” A hand on her shoulder made her jump but she relaxed when she realised it was just Mick.

“I really wish neither of you had to deal with this. I wish you could both be happy.”

Abby just shrugged. “It is what it is. There’s nothing really we can do, just need to keep muddling through.” She paused before continuing to speak. “Just… do us both a favour. Please… don’t tell Hope. It won’t do Arthur any good more people knowing and my family are already unsure about our relationship without thinking something like this is happening regularly.”

Mick stared at her for a moment as if she’d grown a second head. She was right of course, Mick knew that. But he couldn’t quite believe how lucky his friend had gotten. So many people after what happened tonight would have run away screaming, but here she was discussing what was best for their little makeshift family and how best to keep them all together. Mick decided Ketch must have been a saint in a previous life to have even come close to deserving Abby.

“Anyway, you should go to bed. Don’t want Hope waking up and thinking something’s wrong because you’re not in bed.” Abby didn’t even wait for a response before getting up and heading to Archie’s room to check on her boys.

Expecting them both to still be talking in Archie’s room, she was surprised to find that Ketch was nowhere to be seen and Archie was sobbing into his pillow.

“What’s wrong Archie?” She asked, sitting on the edge of his bed and gently stroking his hair.

“Daddy’s upset with me isn’t he.” Archie muttered between sobs.

“Of course he isn’t. Would you like me to talk to him?” Archie nodded, not looking up from his pillow.

Abby stroked his head again one last time before getting up and going downstairs. She knew exactly where Ketch would be. In the Garage. Not long after they moved in, they’d set up a studio in the garage so he had somewhere to do his art and relax.

“Art.” She called out as she entered the ‘studio’ walking carefully around the motorbike and easels and canvases littering the room. She eventually found her boyfriend in the corner, staring blankly at an empty canvas, paintbrush in hand. “What did you say to Archie?”

“I didn’t really say anything. Why?” He didn’t turn to look at her so she moved to stand between him and the canvas, forcing him to look her in the eye. It was easy to tell by her crossed arms and posture that she was far from happy. 

“Because he’s crying in his room, convinced he upset you in some way.” She couldn’t help but notice the small amount of colour completely drain from his face. “Maybe you should have another chat with him.”

“Yes, you’re right. Could you come with me?”

“Of course I can, let’s go chat to Archie and then get some shuteye. You must be exhausted by now.” The adrenaline from the day had begun to wear off and she could see from the way he was swaying and struggling to keep his eyes open that Ketch was on the verge of hitting rock bottom. She waited for a moment but when he didn’t start moving she gently took his hand, leading him towards his son’s bedroom. “Archie,” she called out from the doorway, “your dad’s here.”

“I’m sorry I upset you daddy.” He whispered. Abby moved to the side so Ketch could get through and pull his son into a hug.

“You didn’t upset me Archie. I just didn’t want to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me Daddy.” Archie paused. “Ok, you scared me a little. But I know you’d never hurt Abby really. I was scared at the time but I’m not scared anymore.”

Abby couldn’t help but smile as she watched her boys embrace on the bed. She waited by the door until they were done and both adults wished the boy goodnight with a kiss before retiring to their own room to sleep away the troubles of the night.

Unfortunately for them, Hope was more than a little suspicious when the rest of their makeshift little family slept in the next morning. If it had been just the A Team, as she liked to call them, she’d have understood. Ketch got back late and Abby and Archie didn’t like to sleep until he was back. Mick, on the other hand, she knew had gone to bed at the same time she had. He was usually up before she was.

She was reading a book when Mick finally came down. “What happened?” She asked, without looking up. “And don’t you dare try and lie to me.”

Mick sighed. He knew this conversation was inevitable but he’d hoped it would at least be when he was awake enough to formulate a possible response. “Can it wait until after coffee?” He didn’t really need it but it was a great way to stall. Or so he thought. Unfortunately, she’d already thought of that and gestured to the mug already sat on the coffee table. “Alright but it’s extremely important that what I have to tell you does not leave this room.” Hope closed her book and put it on the table, watching him as he sat on the sofa opposite her. “I need you to promise me Hope. Nobody can know what happened or that I told you.”

“What’s going on?” Abby asked as she also entered the room, looking at the two very serious occupants questioningly. That’s when Hope saw her wrist. Despite Abby’s best efforts to cover it with makeup, a bruise had begun to form.

Hope narrowed her eyes and turned to Mick. “What happened last night?”

“Ah, so that’s what this is about.” Abby sat down next to Mick as a show of support. There was no way for them to get out of telling Hope now and whilst it wasn’t ideal it would need to be done.

Mick paused, taking a moment to compose his thoughts. “You know about what Ketch and I do for a living but Ketch… Ketch has been through far more than he likes to admit to anyone. Including himself. He’s been beaten, betrayed, and brainwashed all by people he loved at one time or another. As you can imagine this has left him with certain… issues… Particularly as a result of the brainwashing. Whilst he’s mostly recovered, much better than I ever expected given his initial condition, he still sometimes has… moments.”

“And that’s what happened last night?” Hope asked. “One of these moments?”

“Yes.” Abby could tell Mick was struggling so she decided to take over. “When he goes out on a hunt, it sometimes brings that conditioning to the surface. He doesn’t mean for it to and he tries so hard to keep it suppressed but he can’t always help it. Last night when we were having an argument, I tried to slap him and he grabbed my wrist. I don’t believe Arthur ever intended to hurt me, he was trapped inside his own head and it was a reflex.”

“But why didn’t you want to tell me? I could have helped, I thought we told each other everything.”

“We do, but Arthur was so upset that everyone knowing would have only made things worse. Not to mention there was no way of knowing how you’d react. If you’d gone and told your dad then I’d have been under pressure from everyone to leave him again.” Abby explained gently, glancing over to Mick for help.

“You didn’t see him Hope. The way he was when the two of you were staying with Sam and Dean, I honestly believed he’d go back to how he’d been before. Then the moment you both came back, both he and Archie were so much better.”

“And we both know that I’ve been so much happier since meeting Arthur. I didn’t want to keep it from you, I just wanted to do what was best for our family.” Abby reached over the coffee table to take her friend’s hands.

“I suppose that makes sense…” Hope muttered, more to herself than either of the people sat in front of her.

“So, we good?” Abby asked.

“Yeah, we’re good.” On hearing that, Abby got up and hugged her best friend. She had been so worried about this moment and was so relieved that it was over, with as little harm done as possible.

 


	30. Chapter 30

“Hey, Hope?” Abby called from the kitchen.

“Yeah?”

“Could you grab Arthur quickly before he goes out on his bike? He’s forgotten his lunch.” As Hope entered the room, she could see why her friend was unable to do the task herself, she was sat at the kitchen table with Archie as the boy tried to paint her face as what might have been a tiger or a zebra or possibly a tabby cat? Whatever it was it was very stripy and all the wrong colours. She couldn’t blame him. It looked like great fun. She headed over to the fridge and pulled out the large Tupperware container before heading into the garage.

The first thing she noticed was the overwhelming smell of petrol. The second thing she noticed was the clear divide between two halves of the garage. One half was full of canvases and art supplies with a few easels dotted around, including one in the far corner and the other half, nearest the interior door, contained a motorbike and tools. “Ketch?” She called out, approaching where the bike was.

“Hope?” He came around the corner, wiping his oil covered hands on a rag and dressed head to toe in his biking leathers.

“Abby asked me to bring you lunch.” She explained, showing him the Tupperware in her hand.

“Wonderful, thank you.” He reached out to take it and started heading towards the bike.

“I hope you don’t plan to take it out like that.” She commented, following him over.

“I thought I might. What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s leaking petrol is what’s wrong with that.” Hope stated simply, moving closer to have a proper look at the fuel tank. “Roadster 750CC Mark 2A, right?”

“Yes. Other than affecting fuel consumption, how would that be an issue?”

“Engine. Spark. Petrol. Boom.” She muttered, just loud enough for Ketch to hear her as she bent down further to have a look at something. “Right so there’s nothing wrong with the fuel tank itself.” She paused for a moment to think the problem through. “It could just be the carburettor float sticking.” She looked around to find the screwdriver and gave it a tap until the petrol stopped leaking.

“How did you know how to do that?”

Hope just shrugged as though it were nothing. “My dad and I used to restore motorbikes together. I picked up a lot. Anyway, see you later.” Beginning to feel a little awkward, Hope ducked out of the room and back into the kitchen.

“What took so long?” Abby asked, not looking up from her book, Archie was nowhere in sight at this stage but she could hear him and Mick talking from another room.

“Was just stopping your boyfriend from getting himself killed.”

“Ah, all right. Business as usual for him then.” Hope laughed and headed off to find her own boyfriend and Archie, wherever they happened to be.

 


	31. Chapter 31

Mick and Hope were curled up on the sofa together, watching Oliver Twist when Hope finally asked the question that had been bugging her for a while. “Why have you never tried to find your family?” She looked up at him from where her head was resting in his lap.

“Because…” Mick paused for a moment to think through his response. “Because I don’t know if they’d want me to.”

“Have you never thought to try? Surely it would be better to know.”

“Hope, I love you but can we please not talk about this.” She nodded and they went back to their film.

Whilst she let him think she’d let it drop, inside the cogs were still whirring. She’d been told about a website by a friend. She waited until Mick fell asleep on the sofa and went to get her laptop. Filling out his details, and using her debit card, she found the information she was looking for. There was a Caitlin Davies living in Ireland with her daughter. There was an address and, more importantly, a phone number. Glancing at the clock, Hope decided it wasn’t too late and even if she did end up waking them they’d decide it was worth it. She was sure they would. She took her mobile out to the garden so she wouldn’t wake Mick.

Just as Hope was beginning to think it was about to go to answerphone, a woman picked up. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Caitlin Davies?” Hope asked.

“Yes, who is this?”

“I’m sorry. Let me introduce myself. My name is Hope Doyle. I’m phoning about my boyfriend.” Hope paused for a moment before continuing. “He was an Orphan and when I put his details into the search engine, your number came up.” Hope heard Caitlin’s breath catch.

“You found Michael?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Yes, I did. Would you allow me to give him your contact details?”

Caitlin couldn’t agree fast enough. They said their goodbyes and Hope made her way back into the house. Mick had woken in the time she was gone. “Mick, can we talk?”

“What’s wrong?” He asked, a worried look on his face.

“Nothing’s wrong, but it’s about the conversation we were having earlier.”

“Hope…”

“No, please. Let me speak. I found your mum. I found her and she wants to meet you.”

“She… what?” Mick was having a lot of trouble processing that information.

“This is her contact information if you’d like it.” She passed him a note and he nodded, taking it.

He kept that information for almost a month before he could finally bring himself to use it. He organised a meeting at a local coffee shop for the following week. He decided to do it over text because he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her on the phone. Not yet.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Hope asked as they stood outside the coffee shop.

Mick just stared at the door handle, still trying to figure that out for himself. Eventually though, he nodded. “Yeah, I think I do. I’ll regret it if I don’t.”

“Come on then.” Taking his hand, she pushed the door open. There was only one customer in the shop when they entered but they both decided it was best to ignore her until after they had ordered their drinks.

The woman stood as they approached the table. She was about a head shorter than Mick and had dirty blonde hair as opposed to Mick’s dark. It wasn’t until you looked closer that you noticed the similarities. The colour of the eyes, the shape of the ears. Tiny details that you wouldn’t even notice until you saw them again. Mirrored in mother and son. “Mrs Davies?” Hope asked uncertainly, gaining the woman’s attention for long enough to introduce herself. “Hi, my name’s Hope. We spoke on the phone?”

“Oh yes, hello dear.” Mick was rather surprised to hear her speak with an Irish accent. When given the number he hadn’t been given anything else so had absolutely nothing to go on. “And please, call me Caitlin.” She turned back to Mick then. “Please sit-down Michael, you’re making the place look untidy.” She didn’t miss the flinch as she said his name but chose to ignore it as he complied with her request anyway.

Mick focused on his cup of tea in front of him, adding the milk and the sugar to make it just right. He could feel Caitlin’s eyes on him, studying him carefully. “You look so much like your father.” She said, more to herself than to Mick. He didn’t need to look up to know she was already crying. “You have to know, I need you to understand. You were just a lad, but I already loved you so much but... my parents… my parents refused to let me keep you. I was young, still living at home but when your father and I got married we were going to find you again. We wanted you to have a home, with us. But by then, by the time we could support you, you were lost in the system.”

“Why isn’t he here? My father.” She was clearly as surprised by Mick’s accent as he was by hers.

“He died, about a year ago. He always talked about you though. Never finding you was his biggest regret.” Mick nodded, unsure of how to respond to that.

“So, Caitlin. How about you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from?”

“I’m from Drogheda in Ireland, that’s also where Michael was born.” Another mention of his name and another flinch. Caitlin also noticed how the girl, Hope, placed her hand gently on his to offer some form of comfort. There was definitely a story there but she knew better than to ask now. “It’s also where your sister was born.” She continued.

“I have a sister?” That was the first time he looked up since coming into the shop.

“Yes, her name is Natalie and she’s just turned twenty.”

Mick wasn’t sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, he was thrilled to have a sibling, as much as he loved Ketch he hardly counted, but he also felt betrayed. He knew it was stupid because his mother had already told him they looked for him and tried to find him, but he was still feeling hurt that they’d kept his sister whilst giving him up. He also couldn’t help but wonder what his life might have been like if he hadn’t been given away, how many nightmares he might have been saved. It was in that moment that he realised that he wouldn’t trade it for anything. If his parents hadn’t given him up he would have been saved the worst parts of his life but he also wouldn’t have the best. He wouldn’t have Hope and Archie and he dreaded to think where Ketch would have ended up without him around. It was that realisation that prompted his next decision. “I want you to meet my family.”

The suddenness of that statement startled Caitlin, even more so when she saw the same surprise mirrored on Hope’s face. Hope understood that Mick had been feeling uncomfortable but they hadn’t planned to introduce her to Ketch, Abby, and Archie… ever. They hadn’t planned beyond this because Mick hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up. Caitlin on the other hand was surprised by two elements. She knew he didn’t have any adoptive parents so she had no idea who he could have been referring to beyond the girl sat with him (who Caitlin knew from their phone call was his girlfriend). She was also surprised that he trusted her already. Trusted her enough to introduce her to the people he seemed to care about more than anything if he considered them to be his family. She knew there was no way she could refuse an offer such as that and gladly agreed.

When the offer was extended, Caitlin hadn’t been sure what she was expecting, but the gigantic gothic mansion she ended up at was certainly not it. Parking her car behind her son’s, she got out to marvel at the dark beauty of the house. She was drawn back to reality with a jolt as a snowball to hit her car, inches from her head.

“Sorry miss!” She heard a small voice call out as an elf… no a small boy in an elf jumper and hat (complete with bells) ran over. “Hey Uncle Mick, Aunty Hope, what do you think of my Christmas jumper!?”

“It’s beautiful Archie.” Hope laughed, giving the boy a hug and causing yet more jingling of bells. She should really have seen it coming, but she hadn’t expected a snowball to the face the moment she let go. Wiping the snow away she saw her best friend in a Mrs Claus jumper dress, woolly tights and black boots laughing at her expense. She could also see that Archie had run off and was now exchanging snowballs with Ketch who was wearing a Santa jumper with a Christmas hat on his head. “How about instead of laughing at my expense you get over here!” Abby nodded and walked over, shrieking when she felt Hope put snow down the back of her dress.

Ketch was by her side straight away, automatically assuming something had gone wrong. She just brushed off his fussing and suggested they all went inside to get nice and warm and do some proper introductions, having noticed that Caitlin was beginning to shiver.

When they went inside, the fire was already lit in the living room. Mick and Hope sat on one of the sofas whilst Caitlin sat on the other. Archie chose to curl up in his favourite armchair and Abby and Ketch sat on the piano stool together. Noticing Mick didn’t seem to be making a move to make introductions, Hope spoke up. “Everyone, this is Mick’s mum Caitlin. Caitlin this is Archie, Abby and Ketch.”

“Ketch?”

“Yeah, his first name is Arthur but apparently only Abby can call him that.” Hope explained with a grin. Abby just poked her tongue out at her friend in response.

“Would anyone like a drink?” Ketch asked after a moment’s silence. After receiving a list of orders, he placed a hand on Mick’s shoulder. “Want to give me a hand mate?” Mick nodded and got up, following him into the kitchen.

Caitlin waited until they were out of earshot before asking the question that had been on her mind for a while now. “Why does my son flinch every time I say his name?”

“Archie, do you want to go and see if your dad and uncle need any help?” Abby asked, moving to sit next to Hope. This conversation would be difficult enough without Archie around, overhearing things he shouldn’t.

“It’s because of the experiences they had at school. Mick and Ketch went to the same private school, Ketch’s parents paid and Mick was on a scholarship. But the headmistress was a cruel person. She abused and brainwashed all the children in her care… well those that survived anyway. But she always called him Michael as a child.” Hope told her gently. She could see the colour draining from Caitlin’s face but there wasn’t anything she could do or say to make it better. “She died a little over a year ago and since then the boys have taken over the school and reformed it. Your son is an amazing person Caitlin.”

“How could someone do that to a child?”

“Well Mick was on the streets at the time he was offered the scholarship so he didn’t really have any other options and Arthur… Arthur’s parents were awful people. They went to that school when they were younger and it twisted and warped them to the point where they had no problem trying to do the same to their son.” Abby explained.

“How did they… how did they not end up like that?” Caitlin asked, words catching in her throat.

“I don’t have an answer I’m afraid. Ketch was a little like that for a while but Mick pulled him out of it.”

Caitlin nodded. “I um… I think I’ll need some time to process all of this.”

“How about you wait until after drinks and then you can go home and take all the time you need?” Abby suggested, placing a hand on Caitlin’s. “I know this has got to be a lot to get your head around.” Caitlin nodded and sat back on the sofa, wiping unshed tears from her eyes as the boys entered the room. They all made polite conversation as they finished their drinks and Mick showed his mother out to her car.

“I know this has been really difficult for you. But I hope you would like to stay in contact…” Caitlin trailed off, unsure what else to say.

“I’d like that and maybe next time I can meet Natalie?”

“I know she’d love that.” Caitlin placed a kiss on Mick’s cheek before climbing into the car and driving away. Neither being able to see the identical smile on the other’s face.

 


	32. Chapter 32

“Got any plans for Christmas?” Abby asked as she sat down on the sofa next to Ketch.

He glanced up from his newspaper and thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “I haven’t given it much thought. We didn’t really do Christmas last year.”

Abby blinked at him in confusion. “Why not? Don’t you like Christmas?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. Mick and I had never celebrated it before so we didn’t know what we were doing.” Ketch explained. He told her the truth but he’d have told her anything to get rid of that heartbroken look on her face.

“Well this year we’re doing it properly. We’ll decorate and bake Christmas cookies and do a proper Christmas dinner.” She was getting so excited as she outlined everything she wanted to do for Christmas. He was so distracted by watching her talk that he must have zoned out at some point because the next thing he was aware of was, “and either you or Mick should dress up as Santa for Archie!” He looked like a deer caught in headlights and Abby couldn’t help but laugh at that. It had given her plenty to think about though. If the boys had never had a proper Christmas before, she and Hope would make sure they had the best Christmas ever.

Archie was sat in the lounge watching Christmas movies, so Abby and Hope took advantage of the fact that Mick and Ketch were out of earshot and approached him to discuss the plan.

"Archie, we need you to do something for us. When your dad and Mick take you out, we need you to stall them for as long as possible" Abby told him.

"Why?" Archie asked.

"We are going to make this place more Christmas-y as a surprise for them. Will you help us?" Hope said.

Archie agreed to help and they watched the end of the movie together before Ketch and Mick took him shopping. "Remember,  you can't tell them anything" Abby reminded him before they left. Archie mimed zipping his mouth shut. The girls got to work as soon as the door closed behind them.

Mick and Ketch were dragged around every shop, and Archie picked up everything in each shop and he took as much time deciding as possible. By the ride home, hours had passed and they were exhausted. When they pulled up the car, they almost couldn't believe it was the same house. There were Christmas lights on the windows and on the door,  which now had a wreath. Not to mention the giant inflatable snowman that now sat in front of the house.

"Whats going on?" Mick asked in shock.

"Surprise" Archie said, going inside. Mick and Ketch followed behind, in awe of how much they had managed to get done in a short amount of time. Inside, there was tinsel going up the staircase and Christmas decorations on the walls. They had even managed to get a tree in the lounge and fully decorate it.

"Did you know about this?" Mick asked Archie, who had the biggest grin on his face. Archie nodded. "You weren't indecisive at all, you were stalling. You are so sneaky."

"Of course he is" Ketch said. "He takes after me."

The three of them started looking for the girls and found them in the kitchen. They were mixing cookie dough and didn't even notice that they guys were back yet.

"You splashed me with that" Abby said to Hope before purposefully flicking some all over her. "There, now we're even." Mick laughed and the girls turned to see them.

"What's so funny?" Hope asked before getting some on a spoon and flicking it at Mick's face. Ketch laughed so Archie got some and threw it at his dad. The next thing, food was flying in all different directions. By the time it was gone, they were all covered head to toe.

"We were going to make you some cookies" Abby told them, looking around at the mess they'd made. She approached Ketch and held up some mistletoe. "Welcome home."

He smiled and pulled her close, kissing her. "Ew gross" Archie commented.

They pulled away and laughed, and all of them cleaned the mess, before going to clean themselves up. When Ketch came back downstairs after his shower, Abby was sat in front of the fire and she was crying. Ketch was by her side in a second and hugged her close.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She handed him a piece of paper, it was a letter that Archie had written to Santa. It said that he didn't want anything for Christmas because he already had everything he wanted. He had his new mum. Ketch gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "Don't cry love. I thought this is what you wanted."

"It is. These are happy tears." She explained.

Archie walked in then. "Abby? Why are you sad?" He saw the letter. "Did I upset you? I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm not upset. I'm happy." She stood up and hugged him.

"Then why are you crying?" He asked, confused.

"I just didn't think you thought of me that way." She said.

"I thought you were sad because you didn't want to be my mum."

"Of course I do. I just never wanted to replace your real mum. But how could I not want to call you my son? I love you Archie." She told him, pulling the boy into a hug.

"I love you too Mum." He replied, hugging her back.

“As much as I don’t want to break up this moment, we need to get to the restaurant for our reservations.” 

“Right, come on Arch.”

They had agreed to meet Mick and Hope there and when they arrived they noticed someone was missing. Before anyone had a chance to ask, Mick told them “mum couldn’t make it.”

“Can we invite that man instead?” Archie asked, turning to look at his parents. Mick and Hope both shot him a confused look but Abby explained. 

“There was a man in the park, we’re pretty sure he’s homeless and Archie wanted to get him some dinner.” She turned back to Archie to respond to him. “That’s a great idea Archie, let’s go and ask him.”

Before Abby even finished talking, Archie ran off in the direction of the park and Abby followed quickly behind.

“Hi, I’m Archie.” He introduced himself to the man as Abby approached. He’d sat up from where he’d been lying on the bench and was watching Archie suspiciously. Abby couldn’t help but notice how skinny he was, even beneath the baggy hoodie. She couldn’t make out much of his face due to the beard and the hood pulled as far forward as possible but she honestly couldn’t blame him. “What’s your name?”

The man paused for a moment before deciding to reply. “Alex. My name’s Alex.” Abby couldn’t help feeling surprised at the sound of his voice. He sounded significantly more upper class than Abby expected and also vaguely familiar. 

“Nice to meet you Alex. Do you want to come and have dinner with us?”Archie asked him. 

“What?” He turned to look at Abby. Trying to gauge her take on this situation. 

“We have a meal booked at the restaurant over there but we had someone drop out last minute. It’s all paid for so we thought it would be a shame for it to go to waste. You’d be doing us a favour.” She knew it was significantly more likely that he’d accept if she phrased it as him helping them rather than the other way around.

Alex paused for a moment, he still looked suspicious but she could see the moment he decided to risk it.

“Alright, if it’s to help you out.”

She grinned at him and Archie jumped up and down excitedly before all heading back to the restaurant. Archie entered first, running over to the table. “Daddy! Daddy! He said he’d come and eat with us!”

“That’s great Archie.” Ketch told him with a laugh. Abby gave him a kiss as she sat back down and that was when she noticed Alex had completely frozen in place.

Ketch glanced over at the newest edition to their table and all the colour completely drained from his face. “Are you alright?” Abby asked worriedly as she reached her hand over the table to take his. “Do you know each other?”

Neither of them answered, instead Ketch kept his attention firmly on the man in the doorway. “Alexander.” It was at this point that Mick looked up from his menu and saw who was stood there.

“It’s Alex now. Hi Arthur.”

Abby shared a glance with Hope. She didn’t know what was going on either and they agreed they’d let it unfold for a moment or two and if necessary they’d take Archie elsewhere or intervene.

Luckily it wasn’t necessary though as Ketch stood and pulled the other man into a hug. Alex froze for a moment before relaxing and returning the hug. Abby noticed how the other man clung to her boyfriend as if for dear life and she couldn’t help but smile when she saw that he was clinging back just as tight.

After a while they both sat down in the two empty seats. Ketch sat next to Abby, allowing Alex the seat between himself and Mick. Alex shot Mick a nervous smile, as if unsure where the two of them stood but Mick just silently placed a hand on his shoulder. A sign of welcome. 

It was around then that the three men remembered the other occupants of the table. 

“You’re probably wanting an explanation.” Ketch addressed them.

“No, we’d rather sit here confused all evening.” Abby replied sarcastically but couldn’t help the smile on her face that took any possible bite from her words. 

“Alright, that can be arranged.” Ketch laughed. He continued talking though when he saw the expectant looks. “Everyone, this is my twin brother Alex. Alex this is-“

“Abby, Hope and Archie. I know.” When his brother shot him a confused look he had to explain. “I knew about Archie already, Toni contacted me when he was born to ask if I could be there for him in case he ever wanted out and as for knowing about Abby and Hope I came by the house when I got into trouble. I was going to ask for help but when I saw you all together… you were all so happy… I didn’t want to intrude and mess things up. I left before anyone saw me.”

“Why did you agree to come with us then?” Abby asked. If he didn’t want to ask their help then, why did he accept it now?

“Because it was dark. I couldn’t see who I was talking to and I didn’t place your voices until I saw Arthur.” Alex explained, fidgeting slightly uncomfortably at being the center of attention. Noticing this, Ketch changed the conversation and they all sat there for hours, eating and laughing and talking. 

When it was time to leave, Ketch said what he’d been wanting to all evening. “You should come and live with us. Just for a while. Until you get back on your feet.”

“I don’t know… I don’t think I can… I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You wouldn’t be. I want you there.”

“We want you there.” Abby added, taking her boyfriend’s hand. “Besides, you don’t think we’re letting you go back out there on Christmas Eve do you? If we have to kidnap you we will.”

“Guess I’d better come quietly then.” He replied with a smile. He glanced over at his brother and through an unspoken communication between them, he knew Alex approved. 

They drove back to the house in comfortable silence. Alex chose to ride in the back with his nephew, who was sent to bed as soon as they got home.

“Master Alexander!” Alex didn’t have a chance to register the voice before Greta pulled him into a hug. Abby couldn’t help but notice how Alex tensed up and froze at the contact but he didn’t say anything so she decided not to say anything. Well not in front of everyone anyway. 

Once his mum and dad had put Archie to bed, the adults all sat in the lounge for drinks. 

“So, now there’s more than one of you. Does this mean we can all start calling you Arthur?” Hope asked with a smile over her glass. 

Ketch paused for a moment, glancing over at his brother. He hadn’t really thought of that. It wasn’t so much that he had an issue with it. Abby had done a good job desensitising him to it. “I don’t see why not.” He finally answered when he realised they were all staring at him rather oddly.

They stayed up talking and catching up for hours before Archie shouted downstairs that they needed to go to bed or Santa wouldn’t come. They all laughed and showed Alex to the room that Greta had made up for him whilst they were talking. It had been refurbished and everything had been thrown out but it was definitely his room. The room he had always shared with his brother. It felt strange standing in there now, with all their toys and posters and books gone. He didn’t doubt for one moment that the moment they had gone to Kendricks, everything they owned had been burned. He knew as well as his brother that only Faye was worth keeping anything for and only she was expected to survive. It was in that moment a thought occurred to Alex and he turned back to look at his brother, who was watching him from the doorway. 

“What happened to Faye? Is she…”

Arthur averted his eyes, he couldn’t bare to look at Alex and couldn’t even find it in himself to speak. To tell his brother what he had done. 

“Oh.” Was the only reply he got. What more could he really say? He knew from his brother’s silence what happened, what he must have done and Alex couldn’t help but wonder whether he would have made the same choice. He honestly didn’t know but just the thought made him feel sick. 

They bade each other goodnight and Arthur went back to his room, allowing his brother space to grieve their lost sister in private. Just as he was about to leave the room though, something else occurred to him. “Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, a puzzled look on his face.

“Back in July, Gabriel checked up on you. I wanted to make sure that you… that you were still alive. He said you were happy, had a job and a girlfriend. What happened?”

“I guess things weren’t how they seemed.” Alex replied with a sad smile. “Goodnight Arthur.”

“Goodnight Alex.”

When Ketch returned to his room, Abby was sat on the bed waiting for him. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother?”

Arthur sighed, he should have known that question was coming. “Because he was in hiding and I wanted to keep him safe. I honestly thought he would be either dead or out of the country and I didn’t really want to talk about it.”

Abby nodded in understanding. “Just promise me, no more secrets.”

“I promise.” At this point there was nothing else he thought might come up so it was an easy promise to make. 

“Will you seal the deal with a kiss?” She asked teasingly. 

“What are you? A demon now?”

“Yes I want the truth and your soul.” She laughed. 

He leant down to kiss her. If Archie knew how much longer it was before they went to sleep he probably wouldn’t have been very happy. Luckily it wasn’t something he ever needed to know about. 

 


	33. Chapter 33

Hope awoke before Mick so she crept out of bed, careful not to wake him and went downstairs to make him a cup of tea in his new mug. When it was done she went back to their room and placed the tea on the bedside table. She quickly and quietly changed her clothes, covering up with a robe so he wouldn't see it yet, and took a deep breath before waking him.

"Mick" she said, shaking him slightly. "Wake up. It's christmas." His eyes slowly opened.

"Good morning beautiful" he said in a sleepy voice that was just so adorable. He smiled at her and sat up, and she handed him the cup.

"I made you some tea"

"What did I do to deserve you? You are too good to me Hope" he said.

"Stop flirting and drink your tea." She responded, though she couldn't help but smile when he said that. She was equally nervous and excited to see what his reaction would be to what he was about to find out. The two of them chatted and Hope was getting more nervous with every sip he took.

When the tea was almost gone, he finally noticed that there was something written underneath. He drank the last few drops and read what was inside the cup. He had to read it two or three times before the words 'you are going to be a daddy' finally sank in. He turned to Hope, who looked worried.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really." she replied, taking off the robe to reveal the shirt she was wearing which had 'world's greatest present' written over her stomach. He hugged her.

"I'm going to be a daddy." he said, just to hear himself say those words aloud.

"So, I take it you're happy about this." She said.

"Happy doesn't begin to describe it. I'm in love with the greatest woman in the world, and we're having a baby." He kissed her and then leaned down to kiss her stomach. She giggled. "I'm the luckiest man in the world."

Abby on the other hand was woken by something rough and wet against her nose. She reached up her hand to lightly brush it off but was surprised by the startled yelp of whatever it was her hand just batted. It was significantly smaller and fluffier than anything she expected to find in the bed she shared with her boyfriend.

She slowly blinked her eyes open, to see what it was that woke her. Of all the things she could have expected, a small German Shepherd Puppy licking her fingers wasn’t one of them. She sat up to get a proper look at the dog. “Hello there.” She said to it and on hearing her voice, the puppy came and sat down next to her, looking up at her with a confused head tilt. Abby could just make out through its thick fur that it was wearing a pink collar.

She gently reached out to stroke its head and as her hand brushed past it’s collar she heard a jingling from the front of the collar where the tags were located. “Do you have a name yet pup?” She asked the dog as she reached for the tag on its collar. She couldn’t help but laugh when the moment her hand came anywhere near the tag, the dog started enthusiastically licking her hand.

Deciding for a different tactic, she picked up the dog to get a better look. Only proceeding to be licked in the face instead.

It was then that she was finally able to read what was etched into the tag. In Archie’s handwriting it had the words, “Will you marry my daddy?” Behind that tag was a ring. It was a simple and traditional diamond engagement ring with sapphires set either side of the central diamond.

She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she held the squirming puppy close. “Arthur?” She called out, knowing he would have stayed nearby to get her answer. She saw the door to their en-suite open and he stepped out looking incredibly nervous.

“Did you really need to ask?” It took him a moment to register what exactly she said and another to realise that she had in fact said yes. He went over to the bed and leaned down to kiss her, threading a hand into her hair.

It was at that moment that Hurricane Archie decided to grace them with his presence. “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!” He paused in the middle of the floor when he saw the dog in Abby’s hands. He looked at Ketch who gave him a nod and he cheered before starting to chant. “You’re getting married! We’re going to be a family!” Over and over again, whilst running excitedly around the room. Abby laughed at the overly energetic child and Arthur took the dog so he could take the ring off the collar and place it on Abby’s finger.

“So, Archie. You going to help me pick a name for the puppy?” She asked and Archie nodded, coming to sit next to Abby and holding his hands out to his dad to take the puppy. Arthur passed it over, explaining that Archie needed to be very gentle because she’s only small. “So what do you think Archie?”

“Lizzie. She seems like a Lizzie.” Archie told them between giggles as Lizzie proceeded to lick his face.

“Lizzie it is then.” Abby stroked Lizzie’s head with her right hand whilst she put her left arm around Archie. Arthur sat on the other side of his son and they played with the puppy for the next hour, until they received a knock on the door from Greta to tell them that Breakfast was ready.

When they went downstairs, the table was fully laid out with an assortment of different breakfast options including pancakes, the makings of a full english and the regular options of toast and cereal or porridge.

Mick and Hope arrived not long after, looking noticeably dishevelled but the other adults chose not to say anything and Archie was too busy stuffing his mouth with bacon to pay that much attention.

“Has Santa come to visit yet?” Archie asked around his latest mouthful. Abby raised an eyebrow at him and he finished chewing and swallowed before speaking again. “Sorry mum, has he though?”

“Finish your breakfast and we’ll go and find out.”

It made all the adults laugh when Archie started shovelling food in his mouth even faster than before, they chose to ignore how much of a mess he was making in favour of finishing their own food.

“I wonder if we should go and wake Alex.” Abby glanced over at her fiancé who shook his head. 

“Arthur’s right.” Mick told her, trying not to feel uncomfortable using his friend’s first name for the first time since they were kids. “We don’t know how long it’s been since he had a real bed. Better to let him sleep.”

Archie stayed in his seat, fidgeting impatiently until the others were done. The moment they were however, he was gone. “Wow! You’re real!” They heard Archie shout from the living room. 

As the adults entered the room, it was to the sight of Archie excitedly firing questions at a man. He was an elderly bearded man wearing a red coat and trousers with white trim. Ketch hadn’t thought Abby was serious when she suggested getting someone to dress up as Santa but apparently she’d managed to rope Greta’s husband in on her scheme. He wrinkled his nose slightly when he noticed that for added effect, the man was in fact covered in dirt of some kind to represent soot and Ketch made a mental note to make sure the rug was cleaned later.

When Archie finally paused for breath, Abby decided to interrupt him. “How about you open your presents Archie? So Santa can go and visit some of the other children.” Archie nodded and dug into his pile of presents from Santa. He got increasingly excited with every book or toy or game he unwrapped and Arthur couldn’t help but think that Abby was really spoiling him. But the joy on his son’s face and the pleased smile on his fiancee’s was enough for him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a kiss in her hair as they watched Archie shred the paper on yet another present. Fiancee, he liked how that sounded. He glanced down for a moment to see the ring on her finger and couldn’t believe he’d ever become so lucky. After everything he’d done he didn’t deserve Abby but that didn’t mean he was going to give her up. Under any circumstances.

Once Archie finally finished with his presents, Abby glanced at her watch. As if on cue Hope’s laptop began to ring as a skype call came through. She placed it on the coffee table where everyone could see as they all sat down. On the screen, they could see Sam and Dean sat in their library with Eileen sat on Sam’s lap to get them all in frame. “Merry Christmas!” They all called out, and the brits all cheerfully returned the sentiment.

“You guys get your presents ok?” Sam asked, making his brother roll his eyes. 

“Yup, they’re all under the tree.” Hope told him, turning the laptop so he could see the mountain of presents piled beneath the christmas tree in the corner.

“Can we open them yet?” Archie asked excitedly earning a laugh and agreement from all involved.

As Archie dove under the tree to start pulling out presents, Abby heard movement behind them. She turned to look and saw Alex standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Hey sweetheart, would you like to come and join us? Have you eaten yet?”

“I don’t want to intrude on your family time…” Alex stalled.

Abby decided to ignore the fact he hadn’t addressed her other question for the moment. “Alex, you’re family. If you want to join us, you can. But equally if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.” 

Alex paused for a moment, before nodding and coming to sit down, choosing to sit on the floor at his brother’s feet rather than on the cramped sofa with the others.

Abby couldn’t help but laugh as she saw the moment Dean spotted Alex sat there. “Since when’s there two of them?” Dean asked, looking extremely confused.

“Since birth.” Arthur replied casually. “This is my twin brother Alex.” Alex couldn’t help smiling at his brother’s easy acceptance and introduction into his new life. Maybe Abby was right. Maybe they really were all family. He really hoped so. After everything they’d all been through, they deserved to be a family.

 


End file.
